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Long-time Moscow coach Yuri Siomin has decided to leave the club and take over as the head coach of the Russian national team, from which Georgy Yartsev recently stepped down. Siomin has signed a contract with the Russian Football Association, valid until the end of 2005.
Siomin, who helped Lokomotiv win the Russian championship in 2002 and 2004, will now try to lead the national team to the final stage of the 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany.
This means that the 57-year-old coach will have to step down from Lokomotiv, which he has been coaching since 1986 - with the sole exception of 1991 when he was consulting the New Zealand national team. Siomin, who has won the Russian Cup with Lokomotiv four times, has also served as an assistant coach for the national team on a couple of occasions.
The new Lokomotiv head coach is also 57-year-old Vladimir Yestreykov, who has been Siomin's assistant since 1992. Currently, Lokomotiv is in fifth place in the Russian league, with 2 wins and 3 draws.
