Since playing their first ever match in 1992, Russia have continuously disappointed at international tournaments. Regularly touted as a dark horse team who ‘just might’ shock everyone, the reality is that the only surprise is how underwhelming they’ve played. And once more, Russia enters Euro 2016 as a bit of a surprise package—if not an enigma—but that might not be a terrible thing.
Russia Might Enjoy Being a Euro 2016 Dark Horse
Of course the Russian national team is in stark contrast to the old Soviet Union team, who were always seen as one of the more dangerous sides heading into an international tournament. In addition to winning the inaugural European Championship in 1960, they were also runners up in 1964, 1972 and 1988. Upon entering the World Cup for the first time in 1958, the U.S.S.R were only absent from two tournaments, in 1974 and 1978. The former was due to disqualification, after they refused to play in the Estadio Nacional de Chile for the second leg of their playoff against Chile, for political reasons.
Russia is seen as the successor to the Soviet Union national side, but has not enjoyed the same success. They have only qualified for three of the six World Cups that have taken place during their brief history—1994, 2002 and 2014. They have fared slightly better in the European Championships, with Euro 2000 being the only one they failed to qualify for thus far. It is worth noting that they have only made it out of the group stages once, in 2008, when they were beaten by eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals.
Backed at around 66–1 with most bookmakers, the odds clearly have Russia as a long shot to win Euro 2016—a fact which may work in their favour.
Key Players
Fabio Capello was replaced midway through the qualifying campaign by CSKA Moscow manager Leonid Slutsky, who now combines roles for both club and country. He tends to favour a 4-2-3-1 system, unlike Capello who never seemed able to stick with any one formation.
The main dangerman for Russia is likely to be Zenit St Petersburg striker Artem Dzyuba, who has really begun to make a name for himself over the last two years. After nine years at Spartak Moscow—in which he was often deployed out wide—and several loan spells, the 6’5 striker’s career has really taken off since joining Zenit last year. In addition to scoring 23 goals in all competitions for his club, Dzyuba scored eight goals during the qualifiers.
Dzyuba is likely to be supported on either side of the attack by his club mates Aleksandr Kokorin and Oleg Shatov. Kokorin, a striker by trade but generally placed on the right wing, has had a poor season at club level and will be anxious to show what he can do in France. Shatov, a small but pacey left winger, has gone from strength to strength since joining Zenit three years ago.
Given that Russia’s all-time top goalscorer Aleksandr Kerzhakov has been left out of the squad entirely, the trio of Dzyuba, Kokorin and Shatov are expected to be Russia’s main attacking threat. Krasnodar striker Fyodor Smolov is likely to be Dzyuba’s back-up.
Russia’s cause has not been helped by the withdrawal through injury of three of their key players. Attacking midfielder Alan Dzagoev has been an instant choice for his country since making his debut in 2008 at the tender age of 18. The CSKA Moscow star was joint top goalscorer at Euro 2012, albeit tied with five other players. Despite only scoring one goal during the qualifying campaign, his absence due to a broken metatarsal will clearly be felt in France this summer. His club mate, 20-year-old Aleksandr Golovin, is likely to take up his place in the team, having broken through over the last twelve months. Despite only having five caps to his name, his performances for his club have seen great expectations placed on him.
Igor Denisov is another who will miss the tournament. The Dynamo Moscow anchorman, never a stranger to controversy throughout his career, was ruled out earlier this week with a thigh injury. He has been replaced in the squad by Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Artur Yusupov. Spartak Moscow midfielder Denis Glushakov, a player Denisov regularly battles with for a place, now seems certain to be an automatic choice.
Completing the trio of Russia’s walking wounded is former Chelsea player Yuri Zhirkov, who can play pretty much anywhere down the left flank. His versatility, as well as his attacking output, will be sorely missed by his country in France, as will his ten years of international experience.
CSKA defenders Sergei Ignashevich and Vasili Berezutski are likely to be the first choice centre backs, with over 200 caps between them, with Zenit’s Igor Smolnikov and Spartak’s Dimitri Kombarov occupying the full back positions.
One of the more recognisable figures will be goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who has been his country’s first choice between the sticks for over a decade. Regularly linked with a move abroad, he has stayed loyal to CSKA. A good tournament for the keeper could be crucial to how far Russia can go at the tournament.
Qualification
Sweden seemed to be the trickiest prospect from group D, and Montenegro were fancied as a bit of a surprise package. Few expected Austria to walk away with the group in the way that they did, given that the only tournament they had actually qualified for since the 1998 World Cup was Euro 2008—a tournament where they were joint hosts. To their credit, they surprised everyone; they were unbeaten in their ten games, winning nine of them to leave Russia and Sweden scratching around for second place.
Russia’s campaign began with a routine 4–0 win over Liechtenstein, and a 1–1 draw in Sweden. Their bid for qualification was soon in trouble when they drew 1–1 at home to Moldova and lost 1–0 away to Austria.
Things seemed to be back on track, albeit by default, when Russia were awarded a 3–0 victory by UEFA due to crowd trouble. Igor Akinfeev was struck by a flare thrown by one of the home fans in the first minute and stretchered off. The game was later abandoned in the second half following further confrontations between the players and coaching staff of both nations.
The next game was a 1–0 home defeat by Austria. The loss would ultimately cost Capello his job, as he was replaced by Slutsky for the remainder of the qualifying campaign. With Sweden unbeaten up until that point, the next fixture was a ‘do or die’ affair. A goal by Arten Dzyuba ensured that Russia won the match 1–0 to draw level on points with their opponents.
Russia then saw group leaders Austria do them a huge favour by winning 4–1 in Sweden, while they themselves were thrashing Liechtenstein 7–0 to move into second place. While Sweden won their two remaining fixtures, Russia kept their end of the bargain by beating Moldova and Montenegro to consign the Swedes to the qualification playoffs.
Chances in France
Since the qualifying phase ended, Russia have endured mixed results in the friendly matches they have played. An 89th minute goal by Roman Shirokov secured a 1–0 victory over Portugal in November, but four days later they hosted Croatia and were soundly beaten 3–1 in front of their own fans.
In March, Russia comfortably beat Lithuania 3-0, but suffered another defeat a few days later when France beat them 4–2 in Saint-Denis. The two matches played prior to the tournament saw them lose 2–1 to the Czech Republic and draw 1–1 with Serbia, a game which saw midfielder Denisov ruled out of the tournament. Going into Euro 2016, Russia’s form is hardly encouraging.
Russia begin the tournament against Group B favourites England in Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome on Saturday June 11th. Given their opponents’ decent form going into the tournament, Russia would probably be pleased to take anything out of this game. Five days later they will play Slovakia, who have qualified for their first ever European Championship and are something of an unknown quantity. Rated by most as the weakest team in the group, they certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted, but Russia will be disappointed with anything less than a win.
Their final group game is against Wales on June 20th, and no doubt Gareth Bale will keep their defence busy. If England do as well as the bookmakers predict, this could realistically be a straight fight for who finishes second to ensure automatic qualification to the knockout phase, and who faces the lottery of finding out if they are one of the top third placed teams.
One of the noticeable facts about the Russian national side over the years is how many of their players are usually based in their homeland, and the same could be said of the Soviet Union sides. Look over any squad that they have taken to any tournament and you will usually find that at least 75% of the squad play their club football in their own country.
What is significant is that while there are often at least two or three players who are plying their trade in one of Europe’s top leagues, on this occasion there is only one. Roman Neustädter is a defender who plays for Schalke 04, and only made his debut for Russia earlier this year at the age of 28. He has previously played for Germany, having grown up and played his entire club career there. Because both of his caps were obtained in friendlies, he can play competitively for Russia, although he is not expected to see much game time.
The fact that most have written off Russia’s hopes of glory may work for them. In previous tournaments, much has been anticipated but little delivered. It would be quite ironic if, this time, they finally managed to provide the surprise they have been threatening for decades.
