Vasily Berezutsky left the Russian national team

CSKA defender Vasily Berezutsky said that he was suspending his participation in the Russian national football team. It is reported by the Russian Football Union.

Berezutsky said that the decision "was very difficult for him," since he had been playing for the national team since 2003, "he always came to the national team with pleasure and tried to give himself on the field without a trace, realizing that he was defending the honor of the country."

“But, given my age and, most importantly, my state of health, having carefully weighed all the pros and cons, I decided to focus on playing for CSKA,” Berezutsky said.

The head coach of the team, Stanislav Cherchesov, said he was convinced that Berezutsky "in case of emergency, will be able to return to the Russian team."

“By the way, in this way, we also agreed with his long-term partner in the club and national team, Sergei Ignashevich,” said Cherchesov.

• Vasily Berezutsky is 34 years old. Like his twin brother Alexei, he began playing for the Russian national team in 2003 - then the team was led by Valery Gazzaev, the head coach of CSKA, where the Berezutskys played.
• Berezutsky played 101 matches for the national team. At the 2016 European Championship, he led the Russian team on the field as a captain. The last game with his participation was a friendly game against Costa Rica in October 2016 (then the Russians lost 3:4).