Yusupov cuts holiday short following Euro 2016 call

As a replacement for the injured Igor Denisov at Euro 2016, Russia have called up Artur Yusupov – who concedes he is not in the best condition after two weeks on holiday.

Dynamo Moscow midfielder Denisov was ruled out on Monday with a hamstring injury, a major blow coming just two weeks after it was confirmed Alan Dzagoev would miss out with a broken metatarsal.

Those injuries have opened the door for Zenit’s Yusupov, who was enjoying a holiday in the same Monaco hotel as his international colleagues.

Yusupov admits he is unprepared for the tournament – to the extent he had to borrow a pair of boots from a team-mate in order to train.

“I didn’t even have boots, [Roman] Neustadter gave me some. We are the same size,” he said.

“Being in the national team is a great honour,” he said. “Though it happened out of the blue, I’m still very happy to receive the call. As soon as I learned, I immediately packed up and came.

“Naturally, it is difficult to readjust after 14 days of rest. Of course, it is always an honour to come to the national team for me. When I learned about the call, I did not even care.”

Russia begin their campaign against England on June 11 before facing Slovakia on June 15 and Wales five days later.