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Dutch coach Guss Hiddink guided Russia to the Euro finals from a tough group that included Croatia and England, Israel, Macedonia, Estonia and Andorra.
Russia benefited from England’s 2-3 defeat in the decisive qualifying game against Croatia and qualified for the tournament for the third time in their history, not counting the appearances by the Soviet Union. Drawn in Group D alongside Spain, Sweden and defending Champions Greece, Russia will kick off their Euro 2008 campaign on June 10th against Spain in Innsbruck.
The team:
Overall, they have failed to impress in the qualifiers and seem to lack any first-rate players. Most of the players come from the Russian Premier League, and Hiddink said during their pre-tournament friendlies that the lack of top-level experience might be the biggest problem for his team.
During the qualifying round Hiddink fielded 3-5-2 and 4-5-1 formations.
CSKA Moscow’s Igor Akinfeev has established himself as number one keeper, and for the defence Hiddink has Aleksandr Anyukov (Zenit), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow) and Aleksei Berezutski (CSKA Moscow).
The five men midfield will be led by Igor Semshov (Dinamo Moscow) and 2007 Russia’s Player of the Year Konstantin Zyrianov (Zenit). Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow) and Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow) are all front-runners for the midfield positions.
Up front, keep an eye on Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit St. Petersburg) who was tied with Luca Toni for leading scorer in the UEFA Cup this year with 10 goals each. Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Dinamo Moscow) who scored 5 goals in the qualifying has been dropped.
A big blow for Russia’s offence will be the absence of Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburgh), who will be serving a two match ban during the opening games against Spain and Greece.
Coach profile:
In his prolific coaching career, Guus Hiddink has had some remarkable results both on a club level and as a national team’s coach. He has won the Dutch Eredivisie on 6 occasions with PSV Eindhoven, and has one Intercontinental Cup with Real Madrid.
During the 1998 World Cup in France, the Netherlands led by Hiddink finished 4th, and he also led South Korea to the 4th place in the tournament they co-hosted in 2002.
Hiddink also led Australia to the Round of 16 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Team Record:
The Russian National team has never gone past the first round both at the European Championships and at the World Cup.
Source: UEFA, FIFA, EURO 2008
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