Guus Hiddink has dropped the golden boy of Russian football Andrei Arshavin from his 20-man squad for the friendly against Romania in Bucharest.

Captain Arshavin was sent off in the last Euro 2008 qualifier against Andorra and misses the first two Group D games in the June finals against Spain and holders Greece.

The Zenit St Petersburg playmaker was voted his country's top player last year.

Hiddink recalled midfielder Marat Izmailov for the first time in 18 months.

Izmailov, who plays for Sporting Lisbon, last appeared for Russia in a 1-1 home draw against Israel in a Euro 2008 qualifier in October 2006.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg), Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm) Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasily Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Denis Kolodin (Dynamo Moscow) Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Dmitry Torbinsky (Lokomotiv Moscow), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (Zenit St Petersburg), Marat Izmailov (Sporting Lisbon) Forwards: Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow), Dmitry Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow), Roman Adamov (FK Moscow).

Reuters