Despite having the raw talent the Russian team seems to consistently disappoint on the world stage. This is the first time that the team has qualified for the World Cup since 2002 when it failed to progress past the group stage. Furthermore, the team did not make it past the Group Stage in the European Championship 2012, but did reach the semi-finals in 2008.
Style
Russia has a strong history of playing in 4-3-3 formation and Fabio Capello hasn’t changed this. Capello has introduced a more disciplined form of defence while encouraging a more robust style from the players. This fits well with the team’s preferred 4-3-3 formation which encompasses solid defence with a flexible attack.
Strengths
As with all teams coached by Capello the team is well organised and conditioned. The Russians didn’t concede a single goal from outside the area during qualifying and didn’t concede more than one goal per match.
The team is excellent at attacking from the offset of a match with a high percentage of goals coming in the first 15 minutes of a game.
Weaknesses
The Russians have repeatedly failed to defend against headers and attacks from the wings which accounted for over half of the goals conceded by the team during qualifying. While Russia’s attack is fairly good, it doesn’t have a good record when it comes to close range shooting.
Furthermore, once the team fell behind in a match, it failed to recover any points. It is the essential that the team learns to come back from behind if it wants to achieve World Cup glory.
World Cup Group Stage
- Russia vs Korea Republic – Tuesday, 17 June 2014, Match Preview
- Belgium vs. Russia – Sunday, 22 June 2014 Match Preview
- Algeria vs Russia – Thursday, 26 June 2014, Match Preview
