Russian rivals

England kick off their Euro 2016 campaign with a Group B match against Russia in Marseille on June 11. We asked Russian football expert DANNY ARMSTRONG to fill us in on the Thee Lions’ first opponents

Report on England’s first opponents

RUSSIA’S best showing in the European Championship was in 2008. It included a 3-1 quarter-final defeat of Netherlands after extra-time before being thwarted by eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals.

But the halcyon heights reached by a team including Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko have long since faded.

The national side – or Sbornaya as they are known in Russia - have been rebuilt under Fabio Capello, who left the post last year to be replaced by Leonid Slutsky, and will be looking to announce themselves on the big stage in France.

The Boss . Leonid Slutsky

Born in Volgograd in 1971, Leonid Slutsky’s playing career as a goalkeeper at Zvezda Gorodishche was cut short in bizarre fashion at the tender age of 19 after injuring his knee when he fell out of a tree while rescuing a neighbour’s cat.

But since turning his hand to management, Slutsky has won back-to-back Russian Premier League titles, two Russian cups, two Russian Super Cups and was named the best manager in Russia in 2014 while at CSKA Moscow, whom he has managed since 2009.

He has juggled national side and club management since Fabio Capello’s departure in July 2015 and many credit Slutsky – who won all of his Euro 2016 qualifying games – with resuscitating Russia’s ailing qualification campaign under the experienced former England boss.

He has so far registered a 75 per cent win percentage at the helm.

However, Slutsky has remained pragmatic over his side’s chances in the tournament.

“We are not the favourites, but we’re strong as a team,” Slutsky said recently.

With a deal in place to keep him in the hotseat only until after the tournament, his future as national team boss could very well depend on Russia’s performance in France.

The Keeper . Igor Akinfeev

The highly experienced Igor Akinfeev will be looking to build on a season with CSKA Moscow in which he showed fantastic form.

The 30-year-old has been capped an impressive 86 times by his country and is a member of the Lev Yashin club of Russian and Soviet goalkeepers who have kept more than 100 clean sheets in their careers.

A one-man club, he has amassed over 300 appearances for The Army Men - many of those as captain - since joining their youth system way back in 1991.

He has since established himself as the unrivalled number one for club and country and will provide invaluable experience.

The Old Guard . Sergei Ignashevich and Vasili Berezutsky

The most-capped player in the history of Russian football, Sergei Ignashevich has a UEFA Cup and five Russian league titles to his name and was a starter in the famous win 3-1 quarter-final win against the Netherlands in Euro 2008.

Over a decade of his glittering years of service for club and country have come as part of a central defensive partnership with Vasili Berezutsky as the CSKA Moscow centrebacks have forged a formidable partnership in the heart of defence.

At 36, this will most likely be Ignashevich’s last tournament, whereas it may come as a surprise to most that Berezutskiy is only 33 years old.

The Skipper . Roman Shirokov

The latter stages of Roman Shirokov’s colourful career have provided its most purple patch, a stark contrast to his days as a young hopeful.

Whilst making his way through the CSKA Moscow youth academy, Shirokov was sent on loan to Torpedo-ZIL. During his time there he sneakily attended a barbecue with friends and when he failed to return to the club for two months, he invented a story about having broken his leg. The stunt earned him a transfer to non-league football where he would stay until 2004.

But just four years later Shirokov signed for giants Zenit St Petersburg - whose fans he labelled ‘morons’ - and played at Euro 2008, in which he made the infamous denouncement that “Spain are nothing” before they trounced Russia 4-1 in the opening game.

An irresistibly outspoken individual off the field, the 34-year-old is a deep-lying midfielder who has a knack of surging forward to score goals.

His exclusion from the 2014 World Cup squad was seen as a major reason for Russia’s failure at the tournament.

The Young Gun . Aleksandr Kokorin

Aleksandr Kokorin has been touted by many observers as the future of Russian football. The 25-year-old moved to Zenit St Petersburg in January with most believing it would finally

be the move that would allow ‘Sasha’ to showcase his immense talent, something he hasn’t managed to do since he burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old at Dynamo Moscow.

It has been eight long years since then in which Kokorin has courted interest from England and particularly Arsenal, whose sudden reluctance to make a deal further caused some to hint that his private life of fast cars and loose women was a hindrance to his progress as a footballer.

Kokorin’s personal life may be lacking discipline, but on the pitch he has something to prove. His last major tournament saw him head Russia into the lead in a 1-1 draw against Algeria and this time around the left winger will be looking to dispel doubt that he is washed up.

The Wildcard . Fyodor Smolov

Fyodor Smolov has quietly become a revelation in the Russian Premier League, hitting the 20 league goals mark for unfancied FC Krasnodar. Despite his relative inexperience for the national side he has managed to notch five goals in only 12 caps and he may just be the difference for Russia when they need an impact player.

1 on 1s

The most interesting battles that could emerge involving Russian players in Group B...

Jamie Vardy vs Vitali Berezutskiy

Jamie Vardy goes into Euro 2016 as probably the most-talked about player in the world after notching 24 Premier League goals as Leicester City achieved the unlikeliest of titles.

His lightning fast pace and movement will come up against one of Russia’s stalwarts in Vasili Berezutskiy, a veteran of five league titles himself. Can one of the emerging stars of European football make his way past one of Russia’s old guard? We’ll find out in June.

Artem Dzyuba vs Martin Skrtel

Artem Dzyuba has established himself as one of the Russian Premier League’s most prolific strikers since his summer 2015 move from Spartak to Zenit St Petersburg.

At six foot five he has aerial ability by the bucketload which he uses in both defence and attack - where he has notched double figures for Zenit this season.

A former Zenit player himself, Slovakia’s Skrtel may just have the key to handle the six- foot-five Russian. A brute force battle at both ends of the pitch is eagerly anticipated.

Alan Dzagoev vs Dele Alli

CSKA Moscow star Dzagoev burst onto the scene aged only 18 as a much-fancied midfield playmaker and has made his name a certainty ever since.

His three goals at Euro 2012 made him joint top scorer and he was part of Russia’s 2014 World Cup squad.

In contrast, Dele Alli’s revelatory form this season for both Spurs and England has seen him gain the chance to play at his first major tournament.

Oleg Shatov vs Gareth Bale

While maybe not a traditional head-to-head battle, these two wide men represent the most exhilarating attacking threats for either side.

Shatov has become the leading light for Zenit on the left hand side and seems a steal at just £5.25m three years ago whereas Bale has risen from reserve left-back at Tottenham at the start of the decade to the world’s most expensive player.

Both have pace to burn and should light up the flanks when their countries meet in their final group B game.