Having recovered from a poor start to their UEFA EURO 2008T qualifying
campaign, Russia are seeking a third successive Group E win in Estonia
on Saturday. But with injury decimating Guus Hiddink's squad, the trip
to Tallinn could prove perilous.
Tough trips ahead
After beginning their trail to Austria and Switzerland with disappointing
home draws against Croatia and Israel, Russia have clawed their way back
into contention with back-to-back victories over Estonia and F.Y.R. Macedonia.
The results are good enough for second in the section but with visits
to Israel and Croatia ahead, as well as two games against England, the
feeling is that they need maximum points this weekend. They will have
to get them without a host of key players, however.
Defensive headache
Hiddink's men have conceded just once in four qualifiers but approach
the Estonia fixture without two-thirds of their imposing back line. The
Berezutskiy twins, Aleksei and Vasili, are ruled out, leaving only PFC
CSKA Moskva team-mate Sergei Ignashevich of the original trio. To make
matters worse, the experienced Denis Kolodin is also injured so Hiddink
may have to turn to the raw talents of Aleksandr Anyukov, Roman Shishkin
and Sergei Yefimov. Yefimov has played just two top-flight matches at
FC Lokomotiv Moskva.
Youth policy
The outlook is no less bleak further up the field. With Igor Semshov ill,
Yegor Titov awaiting the birth of his child, Pavel Pogrebnyak suspended
and Roman Pavlyuchenko injured, Hiddink could be forgiven for rethinking
the youth policy he has pushed since taking over after the FIFA World
Cup. The likes of Vladislav Radimov, Aleksei Smertin and Dmitri Loskov
all fell out of favour and it is an approach that has prompted criticism
of Hiddink in quarters of the Russian press.
No fear
Some feel their presence would be welcome in a team that suffered a 4-1
friendly loss to the Netherlands last time out, though victory against
Estonia could change that. "We have lost key defenders in the Berezutskiy
brothers and Kolodin. Titov and Semshov are also key absentees. In all,
we have seven players missing," the 60-year-old Dutchman said. "But
there's no point crying about it. The players I have at my disposal can
come through and do the job. I have no reason to feel nervous or afraid.
,
23 March 2007.
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
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