Euro 2020: Russia national team coach Stanislav Cherchesov fired after group stage exit from European Championship

The Russian Football Federation has dismissed its coach Stanislav Cherchesov after the national team failed to pass the group stage at the ongoing Euro 2020 tournament.

Russia lost two and won 1 match out of 3 to finish at the bottom of Group B behind Belgium, Denmark and Finland.

Russia went down 3-0 against world No. 1 Belgium in their opening game before bouncing back to beat Finland 1-0 but their 4-1 defeat against Denmark saw them crash out of the competition.

Russian football federation president Alexander Dyukov said the decision to end Cherchesov’s five-year tenure was reached after discussions with him.

Cherchesov had taken charge of the team after another group-stage exit under previous coach Leonid Slutsky at Euro 2016. He led Russia to the quarterfinals at home in the 2018 World Cup but lost to eventual runner-up Croatia on penalties.

“Together with Stanislav Salamovich (Cherchesov) we took the decision to end his contract. The Russian soccer federation will begin the search for candidates for the post of head coach to prepare the team for qualifying games for the World Cup in 2022,” Dyukov said in a statement.

Russia resumes World Cup qualifying at home against Croatia on Sept. 1.

“Five years working as the head coach of the national team will remain unforgettable in my life. I’d like to thank all of the players who worked together with me for these years,” Cherchesov told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.

Cherchesov is the third of the 24 coaches at Euro 2020 to leave his post.

Netherlands coach Frank de Boer resigned following the loss to the Czech Republic in the round of 16, saying it was “not a healthy situation” because of the pressure on him. Germany coach Joachim Löw departed as planned following the team’s elimination. He will be replaced by Hansi Flick.