Armenia preparing for Euro-2016 qualifier against Albania

Members of the Armenian national soccer team will hold a training session open for media on March 24 as part of their ongoing preparations for an upcoming Euro-2016 qualifier against Albania. 

Armenia’s Swiss head coach Bernard Challandes has invited 24 players for the assemblies ahead of the weekend match, among them some new and unfamiliar faces for the Armenian fans.

The list of 24 includes nearly all leading players, such as veteran goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky from Dynamo Moscow, Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Spartak Moscow’s Yura Movsisyan and others, except for Aras Ozbiliz from Spartak Moscow, who only recently resumed his training after a serious injury.

Among the squad newcomers are Gaël Andonian, a 20-year-old French-Armenian defender from Olympique Marseille B, Artem Simonyan, a 20-year-old right winger from Zurich, Switzerland, and 26-year-old forward Ruslan Koryan representing Lokomotiv Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

Armenia are expected to leave for Albania on March 27 and the match is slated for March 29.

Last month Armenian Football Federation President Ruben Hayrapetyan warned Challandes will have to resign if the team fails to beat Albania. 

Armenia have only one point after three qualifiers played under the new coach last fall. The team is behind all Group I rivals that also include Denmark, Portugal and Serbia.