MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti) - Former coaches of the Russian national soccer team were among 26 Russian coaches who received PRO licenses Friday allowing them to coach any foreign soccer club, as well as foreign national teams.
Valery Gazzayev, who left the post of national team head coach in 2003, and Yury Syomin, who resigned from the same post this year after the team failed to qualify for the finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, were issued licenses after two-day examinations in Moscow.
The Russian national soccer team currently does not have a head coach. The president of the Russian Football Union said earlier it was important to find a coach by early next year.
"Of course, we would like to find a head coach before next February," Vitaly Mutko said. "It is important because European tournaments start at that time."
