McCarthy harbours clear ambition in world of haze and intrigue

The Republic of Ireland squad arrived in the Russian capital for Saturday's European Championship Group 10 qualifier to find the venue in a haze and their opponents in a tizz. There was initially talk of the match having to be postponed because forest and peat fires had left the stadium covered in smog. It will now go ahead, but without Russia's great white hope, Dimitri Sychov, who has been banned for four months after walking out on Spartak Moscow amid reports of mafia involvement.

Sychov, 18, was one of the few players to impress in a poor World Cup campaign, in which Russia failed to qualify from one of the easiest groups, with Japan, Belgium and Tunisia. The veteran coach, Oleg Romantsev, duly resigned and returned to Spartak, while his replacement, Valery Gazzayev, hoped to build a team around Sychov and similarly young talent. But both men found themselves without the services of the young striker, who has been called the Michael Owen of Moscow, but appears to lack the Liverpool man's equable temperament.

Last month he sent Spartak a letter saying he wanted to annul his contract, only signed last December, when he moved from an obscure Second Division club, Spartak Tambov. He claimed the Moscow club had guaranteed him an extra £7,500 for signing on, claimed to be subject to strong psychological pressures, and has hardly been seen since. Local media speculated about organised crime being involved and Gazzayev admitted it was impossible to select him for Saturday's game because "he is not mentally fit to play at such a high level". The Russian Football Union has now banned him until the new year, after which time he will be allowed to join any club that pays Spartak compensation.

Spartak, who initially denied making such a guarantee to the player, wanted a longer suspension ban. "The club was asking for a 12-month ban, but we have to go by what Fifa [world football's governing body] says the punishment must be in such cases," said the head of the Russian Union's disciplinary committee, Vitor Marushchak.

Sychov's ban may help Gazzayev in his secondary role as coach to CSKA, Spartak's rivals for the domestic championship, but it only adds to his problems in producing a team to revive Russian fortunes and win a group also including Switzerland, Georgia and Albania. Two of his most influential CSKA players are missing – Vyacheslav Dayev, a defender and the striker Denis Popov – plus the Lokomotiv Moscow men Marat Izmailov and Ruslan Pimenov, and Spartak's playmaker, Yegor Titov.

In contrast, Mick McCarthy is in the probably unprecedented position of not having suffered a single withdrawal from either his senior or Under-21 squad. A full group was able to train last night, although the venue had to be moved to Dynamo Moscow's ground, because the Lokomotiv stadium was overhung by smog. There has been no rain in Moscow for three weeks and forest fires, made worse by burning peat, are causing problems on the east side of the city, where Saturday's game is due to be played. Officials said last night that it will go ahead.

Kenny Cunningham will captain Ireland in succession to Steve Staunton and Roy Keane, who inevitably received a mention last night, as McCarthy was forced to admit he always will. "It's an unfortunate fact of life that will run and run," he said. "I'll be old and grey and walking down the street and someone will say: 'You're the one who sent Roy Keane home from the World Cup'. It's very sad, one of the world's great players not playing for his country, but I can't do anything about it."