European Football Championship 2008: Euro-Files Russia

Russia is a great footballing nation, but it has yet to prove that greatness on the field of play. One European Championship (1960, as the Soviet Union) and one UEFA Cup (CSKA Moscow in 2005) are a paltry return for a country of 142 million people, whose passion for the beautiful game has remained constant throughout a century of political and social upheaval.

In the Communist era, the national team’s mystifying misfires were often blamed on heavy-handed state interference. But even after the end of the Cold War, the team’s inconsistency has frustrated fans. At Euro 2004, Russia won one match – against the eventual champions Greece – but only once they’d been eliminated after losing their first two games.

Unprecedented optimism

Yet suddenly Russian football is gripped by unprecedented optimism. Although there are only two Russians in any of the Castrol Performance Index top tens (see http://euro2008.castrolindex.com/?language=en), coach Guus Hiddink inspired South Korea and Australia to overperform in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Russian fans confidently expect a similar transformation this summer, especially as the draw – pitting them against Sweden, Spain and Greece – was reasonably kind.

“We have totally changed the way Russia play,” says Hiddink. “Their style was very old-fashioned and we have modernised it, but the team still has a lot to learn.”

Russian Ronaldinho

Though Russia conceded only seven goals in qualifying, they have not looked especially solid at the back – England carved them open with ease at Wembley – as the team had not fully adapted to Hiddink’s 3-4-1-2. Against England in Moscow, they set out to frustrate and conceded a goal but, in the second half, played with intelligence, technique and passion as they dominated possession, attacking from a bewildering variety of angles.

Russia do not rely on a single goal machine. Dmitri Sychev (once tagged the Russian Michael Owen), Roman Pavlyuchenko (whose brace sunk England in Moscow), Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Andrei Arshavin all average a goal every three matches. Arshavin, Russian footballer of the year in 2006, is also credited with four assists in qualifying. The 26-year-old's efforts are enough to make him Russia's highest ranking forward in the CPI at 70th overall and 12th in the strikers' list (see http://euro2008.castrolindex.com/Stats.aspx?language=en&type=4).

Rising star Diniyar Bilyaletdinov’s favoured role is just behind the strikers, but he has enough tactical intelligence to perform well in central midfield and on the left wing. His versatility and attacking contributions have made him one of Russia's few stars in the CPI – he is ranked 4th out of all the qualified midfielders (see http://euro2008.castrolindex.com/Stats.aspx?language=en&type=5) and sits in 34th overall - just one place behind the nation's highest ranked player, goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev (http://euro2008.castrolindex.com/Stats.aspx?language=en&type=7).

CSKA Moscow’s tricky, exuberant winger Yuri Zhirkov has shown enough creative genius and spectacular touches to make the “Russian Ronaldinho” label seem not too outlandish.

Arshavin, Bilyaletdinov, Kerzhakov, Pavlyuchenko, Sychev and Zhirkov are all in their mid-twenties, the brightest stars in a team Hiddink is building for the future. Russia’s prospects – for Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup – haven’t looked this good since the great Lev Yashin pulled on his gloves half a century ago.

For more news on the European Football Championship 2008 please visit http://www.castrolindex.com

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