Fernandes to have no language problems playing for Russia at 2018 FIFA World Cup — coach

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/. Brazilian-born football player Mario Fernandes will have no language barriers playing for the Russian national team at the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup, Stanislav Cherchesov, the head coach of the team, said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Football Union (RFU) published a list 28 players, including 27-year-old Fernandes, selected to enter the preliminary roster of the national squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup."He understands everything but, to be honest, he cannot always find the words to reply," Cherchesov told journalists. "However, we have Paulino Granero (national team’s physical training coach), who helps to make sure that he (Fernandes) understands all details. It is not a big deal and we will nothing in the team (regarding the language barrier)."

Fernandes has been playing as a defender for CSKA Moscow football club since 2012 and in July 2016 he was granted the Russian citizenship.

He debuted playing for the Russian national football team during a friendly match against South Korea on October 7, 2017 (4-2). Fernandes later played two more international friendly fixtures for the Russian national squad, namely against Iran (1-1) and Argentina (0-1).

The Russian national team is set to gather for its training session ahead of the global football championship on May 18 at the town of Novogorsk outside Moscow and between May 20 and 31 it will stay at a training camp in Austria’s Neustift im Stubaital.

Before the 2018 World Cup kicks off on June 14 in Moscow, hosts Russia are set to play two friendly matches - on May 30 against Austria in Innsbruck and on June 5 against the Turkish national team in Moscow.

On December 1, 2017, the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow hosted the Final Draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which determined the group breakdown for the FIFA flagship event this year. A total of 32 national football squads were divided into eight groups with four teams in each. Hosts Russia were placed in Group A with teams from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup kicks off in 34 days with the opening match in the Russian capital of Moscow.

Russia selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

The matches of the 2018 World Cup will be held between June 14 and July 15 at 12 stadiums located in the 11 mentioned above cities across Russia. Two of the stadiums are located in the Russian capital.