Euro 2008 Team Preview: Russia

Gus Hiddink Russia Euro 2008 FOOTBALL – Euro 2008 Team Preview – RUSSIA
33/1 with William Hill to win Euro 2008.

5/1 with William Hill to win Qualifying Group D (includes Spain, Sweden and Greece).
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Coach

Dutchman Guus Hiddink has had a diverse coaching career. This includes success with PSV Eindhoven, along with the national sides of South Korea, Holland and Australia. Along with his inspirational qualities, he is a master strategist and may hold the key to Russia’s progression in the tournament. In his 15 months in charge, Hiddink managed to create a new nucleus for the national team, although he has not been able to overcome the lack of quality replacements. Despite his young age, Igor Akinfeyev has emerged as the best successor to the retired Ovchinyikov in goal. However, due to his severe knee injury he has been replaced by Malafeyev and Gabulov on several occasions.

Qualification

Full Qualifying Results

Russia 0 v Croatia 0, Russia 1 v Israel 1, Russia 2 v Estonia 0, Macedonia 0 v Russia 2, Russia 4 v Andorra 0,

Croatia 0 v Russia 0, Russia 3 v Macedonia 0, England 3 v Russia 0, Russia 2 v England 1, Israel 2 v Russia 1,

Andorra 0 v Russia 1.
Russia’s qualifying group (E) looked, on paper, to be a tight affair, containing England, Croatia, and Israel, along with lesser sides Macedonia and Estonia. Israel produced some surprising results, beating Russia at home and gaining a point away. Qualification "went to the wire" with England’s 3-2 loss to Croatia in their last game allowing the Russians to gain second place, behind Croatia, by a single point over England and Israel.

Key Players

Russia’s most influential player and captain could, conceivably, take part in only one match at next month’s European Championship. Playmaker Andrei Arshavin will be forced to miss Russia’s crucial Euro 2008 opener against Spain, having been dismissed in the final qualifying match against Andorra. He will also miss the Greece fixture and will only be eligible to play against Sweden, by which time the damage may have been done. However, club (Zenit St. Petersburg) manager, Dick Advocaat has proved that Russian teams can do well even without Arshavin. Arshavin was suspended for the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-finals, but Zenit still overwhelmed Bayern Munich 4-0 to reach the final.

Former Dynamo Moscow star, Aleksandr Kerzakhov has a scoring record of a goal every two games since joining Andalucian side Sevilla. A more physical type of player, he has struck up a productive partnership with the guile of Arshavin in the national side. The strike force also includes the talented Dmitri Sychev and Roman Pavlyuchenko, who is apparently desired by Real Madrid in the near future.

The midfield four generally consists of Vladimir Bistrov, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Konstantin Ziryanov, a gifted player who can also act as a withdrawn forward. CSKA’s fullback Yuri Zhirkov is used by Hiddink in midfield with good results, while the marvellous dribbler Marat Izmailov fell out of the coach’s grace after the initial games, to be replaced by central midfielder Igor Semshov.

Past Championships

1960 – Champions

1964 – Runners-up

1968 – Fourth place

1972 – Runners-up

1976 – Did Not Qualify

1980 – Did Not Qualify

1984 – Did Not Qualify

1988 – Runners-up

1992 – Round 1

1996 – Round 1

2000 – Did Not Qualify

2004 – Round 1
Russia won the inaugural Championships in 1960 and were runners-up on three occasions in the 1964, 1972 and 1988 tournaments.

All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds



    Related Articles:
  • Euro 2008 Team Preview: Croatia
  • Euro 2008 Team Preview: Austria
  • Euro 2008 Team Preview: Switzerland
  • Euro 2008 Team Preview: Greece
  • Euro 2008 Team Preview: Spain


    • Written by Jason Tynan · Filed Under Euro 2008, Football 

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