Aleksandr Kerzhakov - International Career

International Career

Aleksandr Kerzhakov began playing for Russian national U21 team in 2001. He made his senior debut for Russia in a friendly against Estonia on 27 March 2002.

Kerzhakov was selected by Oleg Romantsev for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was on the bench for Russia's first two games against Tunisia and Japan, but substituted Valery Karpin against Belgium.

Kerzhakov went on to score his first goal for Russia in a friendly 1–1 draw against Sweden on 21 August 2002.

Under Valery Gazzaev's successor, Georgi Yartsev, Kerzhakov was called up for the Euro 2004 qualifiers and scored two goals. In the final tournament, Kerzhakov was one of four strikers in the squad along with Dmitri Bulykin, Dmitri Kirichenko, and Dmitri Sychev. He was on the bench for Russia's games against Spain and Greece, but four days later played a full game against Portugal.

After Euro 2004, Kerzhakov was in Russian squad for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Yartsev promoted Kerzhakov to the starting line up along with Dmitri Sychev. With Yartsev's successor Yuri Semin, Kerzhakov's starting position was further strengthened after Bulykin and Kirichenko were dropped from the squad and the recall of Andrei Arshavin.

Under Guus Hiddink, Kerzhakov was the first choice striker ahead of Dmitri Sychev and Andrei Arshavin. However, he was later dropped after limited appearances for Zenit in late 2006. Upon moving to Spain, Hiddink overlooked Kerzhakov for a friendly against the Netherlands in February 2007, but recalled him in March against Estonia following impressive performances for Sevilla. Kerzhakov went on to score both goals in the 2–0 victory over Estonia. On 2 June 2007, Kerzhakov notched a hat-trick as Russia routed Andorra 4–0. He contributed further to Russia's Euro 2008 campaign by scoring a goal in a 3–0 victory over Macedonia on 8 September 2007. During Euro 2008 qualifying campaign Kerzhakov was the top scorer for Russia with 5 goals.

On 14 May 2008 Kerzhakov was not included in Hiddink's provisional 25 man squad for Euro 2008. There was speculation that Kerzhakov was to replace the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak but was eventually left out of the squad.

Kerzhakov was recalled to the Russian squad on 26 May 2009 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Finland. He started the game and ending up being the main factor in the Russian victory by scoring 2 goals. On 18 November 2009, Kerzhakov came on as a half-time substitute for Roman Pavlyuchenko, but was sent off in the 66th minute of the 2nd leg of Russia's 2010 World Cup playoff against Slovenia after what was interpreted by referee Terje Hauge to be a deliberate kick at Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanović. Slovenia managed to hold on to a 1–0 win and Russia were eliminated on away goals after an aggregate score of 2–2.

He was confirmed for the finalized UEFA Euro 2012 squad on 25 May 2012.