Karen Vardanyan included in Belarus squad for match against Armenia

Belarus national football team head coach Viktor Goncharenko has announced the squad for upcoming friendly matches against Cyprus (March 26) and Armenia (March 29).

Particular attention is drawn to the inclusion of forward Karen Vardanyan. The 22-year-old player of Armenian origin has previously been called up to the national team but has not yet made an official appearance. Despite his Armenian roots on his father’s side, Vardanyan has repeatedly stated that he considers himself Belarusian, as he was raised by his Belarusian mother.

Goalkeepers
Mikhail Kozakevich (Dynamo Minsk)
Pavel Pavlyuchenko (ML Vitebsk)
Fyodor Lapoukhov (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria)

Defenders
Kirill Pechenin (Krylia Sovetov, Russia)
Pavel Zabelin (Akritas, Cyprus)
Egor Parkhomenko (CSKA 1948, Bulgaria)
Roman Begunov (Dynamo Minsk)
Vladislav Kalinin (Dynamo Minsk)
Zakhar Volkov (ML Vitebsk)
Gleb Shevchenko (Torpedo Moscow, Russia)
Ivan Tikhomirov (Isloch)

Midfielders
Ruslan Lisakovich (ML Vitebsk)
Maksim Kireev (Mechelen, Belgium)
Alexander Selyava (Dynamo Minsk)
Valery Gromyko (ML Vitebsk)
Evgeny Yablonski (Asteras, Greece)
Yuri Kovalev (Baltika, Russia)
Artyom Kontsevoy (ML Vitebsk)
Daniil Galyata (ML Vitebsk)
Max Ebong (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria)

Forwards
German Barkovsky (Piast Gliwice, Poland)
Alexander Shestyuk (Radnicki, Serbia)
Karen Vardanyan (Dynamo Minsk)
Vladislav Morozov (Kolding, Denmark)
Artyom Shumansky (Krylia Sovetov, Russia)

In addition to the match against Belarus, the Armenia national team is also planning to play a friendly against the UAE on March 26. However, this match remains uncertain due to the tense military situation in the Middle East.

The full Armenia squad has not yet been announced; so far, only the list of foreign-based players has been published.