Russia kickoff on a wing and a prayer
Ranked lowest among 32 teams, ageing hosts need to beat Saudi Arabia to keep qualification hopes alive
MOSCOW:IT has been a rough ride for Russia building up to the World Cup. Of last 15 internationals, Russia have won just three.
Being the lowest ranked team in the competition — Russia are 70 — and carrying huge expectations as the host nation, it is, therefore, not difficult to gauge the kind of pressure head coach Stanislav Cherchesov faces.
On the eve of the opener against Saudi Arabia, the 54-yearold seemed the polar opposite of a man under pressure. “Oh, you are James Bond?” he said, in response to a journalist introducing himself as James Dodd. Cherchesov then exchanged a few puns with local Russian journalists. So how were his players’ preparations? Cherchesov went on to explain that his players had been playing ‘Trivial Pursuit’, a board game, to let off steam ahead of Thursday’s opener.
A string of retirements in defence in 2016 and the team’s subsequent struggles forced Cherchesov to convince 38-yearold Sergei Ignashevich to make a comeback. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has been at the core for over a decade but has had two serious leg injuries in recent years. The fact that both veterans face little or no berth pangs is indicative of the country’s fall in standing in recent years.
“This is the weakest Russian team in many decades. Even leaving the group will be considered a great success but it will be extremely difficult to do so,” said Andrei Malosolov, ex-spokesperson of the Russian FA.
This World Cup’s opener will be exactly 10 years to the day when Russia’s 1-0 win over Greece kick-started a run to the semifinal of Euro 2008. “In 2008, Russia had a whole galaxy of talented and young players. Most of them have now either retired or grown too old,” said Malosolov.
While getting past the group stages will be anything but easy given the presence of Egypt and Uruguay, Russia will have to beat Saudi Arabia, the weakest team on paper in the group, to have a fair shot of reaching the last-16.
Alan Dzagoev and Denis Cheryshev will be the two major creative outlets and Cherchesov will be looking to offer the duo a bit more freedom going forward. With Alexander Kokorin out due
HOPING TO PROGRESS
Despite failing to win in seven matches stretching back to October, 2017, the hosts still have realistic hopes of making it to the second round for the first time in more than 30 years.
Coach Stanislav Cherchesov has been working overtime trying to rebuild his team, particularly defensively but the tournament has arrived without him showing much evidence of progress.
HEAVY EXPECTATIONS
Russia has spent more than $13 billion on preparations for the big event, and President Vladimir Putin called on the team to pull themselves together as they look to progress from a section also featuring Uruguay and Egypt. "As far as the team are
INJURY BLOWS
Zenit St Petersburg striker Alexander Kokorin had to pull out due to a serious knee injury in March. Also absent will be defenders Georgi Dzhikiya and Viktor Vasin.
Krasnodar forward Fedor Smolov and Artem Dzyuba, loaned out to Arsenal Tula in January after falling out with ex-zenit coach Roberto Mancini, will spearhead the attack.
WORLD CUP RECORD 17
Won
Drawn Lost
Best finish: Made it to QF in 1958, 1962, 1970 to injury, Fedor Smolov will be the sole striker.
Saudi Arabia head into the tournament with very little expectations, something they hope will work to their advantage. Coach Juan Antonio Pizzi
BELOW-PAR BUILD UP
Cherchesov's side will walk out at the Luzhniki stadium, the historic crucible of Russian sport, ranked a lowly 70th in the world, three spots below Group A rivals Saudi Arabia.
A 1-1 draw in Moscow with Turkey last week made Cherchesov the first Russian or Soviet manager to go winless in seven consecutive games, four of those ending in defeat. concerned, I must acknowledge the fact that, unfortunately, our team have not achieved big results in recent times," Putin said. "But we very much expect the team to play with dignity, for them to show modern, interesting football, and to fightuntiltheend."
FACTFILE
Russia are winless in their last five Cup games, losing three and drawing two. In fact, their only two wins at the World Cup since independence were against African teams — a
6-1 win over Cameroon in 1994 and 2-0 victory against Tunisia in 2002.
Saudi Arabia have kept only one clean sheet in their 13 games at the World Cup.
2 2
Drawn Won
9
Lost Best finish: Reached second round in 1994 had led Chile to the 2016 Copa America title with a gung-ho approach that has been characteristic of his managerial career.
Pizzi will find it difficult to replicate such a system but given Russia’s usually conservative approach, this is likely to be the only game where the Saudis will see a bit more of the ball.
Like Russia, Saudi Arabia are among the oldest sides here. There have been question marks over Osama Hawsawi’s ability to lead the defence at 34. With the likes of Yahya al-shehri, Salem al-dawsari and Abdullah al-khaibari, Saudi Arabia, however, have players in the middle who can help create a few problems for Russia.