Hiddink names Russian Tsars...

Gus Hiddink has shown he is concentrating on the job in hand and not getting to caught up in the speculation that he is Chelsea bound by naming the 23 players who will make up Russia's squad who head to Switzerland.

Having previously announced a 25 man preliminary squad The Goose has chosen to leave at Spartak Moscow's Aleksandr Pavlenko and Krylya Sovetov Samara's Oleg Ivanov. The midfielders will obviously be gutted at missing out but Hiddink, who had always looked like getting rid of players from the midfield area of the preliminary squad has made his mind up, and we all know what that means, that is that!

Interestingly, only one player plays outside Russia, Nürnberg's Ivan Saenko.

Here are the 23 Russian players who will head to Euro 2008...

Goalkeepers
Igor Akinfeev CSKA Moscow
Vladimir Gabulov Amkar Perm
Vyacheslav Malafeev Zenit St. Petersburg

Defenders
Aleksandr Anyukov Zenit St. Petersburg
Aleksei Berezutski CSKA Moscow
Vasili Berezutski CSKA Moscow
Sergei Ignashevich CSKA Moscow
Denis Kolodin Dinamo Moscow
Roman Shirokov Zenit St. Petersburg
Renat Yanbaev Lokomotiv Moscow

Midfielders
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov Lokomotiv Moscow
Dmitri Torbinskiy Lokomotiv Moscow
Vladimir Bystrov Spartak Moscow
Yuri Zhirkov CSKA Moscow
Konstantin Zyrianov Zenit St. Petersburg
Igor Semshov Dinamo Moscow
Sergei Semak Rubin Kazan

Forwards
Roman Adamov FC Moscow
Roman Pavlyuchenko Spartak Moskcow
Dmitri Sychev Lokomotiv Moscow
Pavel Pogrebnyak Zenit St. Petersburg
Andrei Arshavin Zenit St. Petersburg
Ivan Saenko Nürnberg

After announcing the two players who would miss out Hiddink said "I want to point out that we have no complaints about Pavlenko and Ivanov. They worked well in training and left a good impression. We want them to stay with us until the end of the EURO."

Germany announce provisional squad...

Euro 2008 favourites Germany have announced their provisional squad for Switzerland and Austria. Coach Joachim Löw surprised many by included a hat-trick of players who don't even play in the top flight of German football by calling up Marko Marin, Oliver Neuville and Patrick Helmes. Mari and Neuville both play for Borussia Mönchengladbach while Helmes stars for Cologne.

One shock omission was Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, who has been replaced by Bayer Leverkusen's René Adler. Other omissions include the experienced Tim Borowski through injury, Manuel Friedrich, Jermaine Jones and Piotr Trochowski.

The full provisional German squad is, with three of these players set to miss out when the squad gets it's final cut to 23 for the 28th May deadline...

Goalkeepers
Jens Lehmann Free Agent
Robert Enke Hannover
René Adler Bayer Leverkusen

Defenders
Christoph Metzelder Real Madrid
Per Mertesacker Werder Bremen
Philipp Lahm Bayern Münich
Arne Friedrich Hertha Berlin
Marcell Jansen Bayern Münich
Clemens Fritz Werder Bremen
Heiko Westermann Schalke

Midfielders
Michael Ballack Chelsea
Thomas Hitzlsperger VfB Stuttgart
Simon Rolfes Bayer Leverkusen
Torsten Frings Werder Bremen
Bastian Schweinsteiger Bayern Münich
Piotr Trochowski Hamburg
Tim Borowski Werder Bremen
Jermaine Jones Schalke
David Odonkor Real Betis
Marko Marin Borussia Mönchengladbach

Forwards
Miroslav Klose Bayern Münich
Lukas Podolski Bayern Münich
Mario Gómez VfB Stuttgart
Kevin Kuranyi Schalke
Oliver Neuville Borussia Mönchengladbach
Patrick Helmes Cologne

On announcing his squad Coach Joachim Löw said "In the last couple years we have watched around 200 Bundesliga games and have had numerous practice sessions watched. We also staged international matches and held meetings with the coaching staff. It was a tough decision, but we have now decided to give these players our confidence for this important tournament."