Moscow, Aug 27: The latest shake-up involving Russia's troubled national football team brings in Georgy Yartsev as top coach. He has less than two weeks to get his squad ready for a crucial away match against Ireland. A defeat in Dublin on September 6 would probably mean the end of Russia's hopes of qualifying for the 2004 European Championships in Portugal. "I know that I am taking up a very difficult posting in football," Yartsev told a news conference in Moscow on Tuesday (August 26). "I fully realise my responsibility. I think that any such appointment, even if you have waited for it, comes unexpectedly. But even though it is unexpected, this will not affect my ability to work nor will it affect the demands I make toward my players and, most importantly, to myself." Yartsev had been without a top level coaching job for three years after his resignation in 2000 as head coach of Russian premier league side Volgograd Rotor. The peak of his career came in 1996, when he coached Moscow's Spartak football team to the national title. Yartsev's predecessor, Valery Gazzayev, resigned on August 21, a day after Russia lost 1-2 to Israel in a friendly match in Moscow. The new coach has said he plans to recall to the national squad many veteran players left out by Gazzayev, including Alexander Mostovoi, who captains Spanish premier league side Celta Viga.


Bureau Report