Russia were formerly an extremely formidable force in world football who have fallen upon tough times of late. Gone are the days when CSKA Moscow would be full of promising young Russians making their name by beating strong opponents in the champions league.
The only reason they are here (arguably) is because they are Hosts. With teams such as Italy and The Netherlands not making it this year, its hard not to argue that one of them, and not Russia, would be at the World Cup had a European nation not hosted.
In 2014, Russia were ranked 19th, just 4 years later they are now ranked 70th. Nowadays there are almost no Russians playing in leagues across the globe with only 2 players in their squad playing outside of the Russian League. This could be a double edged sword. It will prove useful as none of them should need to "acclimatise" to the conditions, however it also means the players will have similar strengths and weaknesses developed from playing their league football.
Russia's recent record in internationals both tournaments and friendlies is rather woeful with current manager Stanislav Cherchesov only boasting a 26% winrate from 19 matches; most of which were unimpressive wins against mediocre teams.
2014 World Cup they only got 2 points in the group stage and were knocked out. Losing to Belgium 1-0 and drawing 1-1 with both South Korea and Algeria.
2016 EUROS they only obtained 1 point (from 1-1 with England) and again were knocked out in group stage.
Russia has never made it out of the group stage of a World Cup.*
Saudi Arabia (the Green Falcons) is a team I know fairly well, being an Australian I have watched my team face them many times as well as watched them play against other Nations too. Much like Russia, this team was fairly strong in their region during the 90's and 2000's but have fallen down somewhat. They were once the "unstoppable Kings of Asia" winning the 84, 88 and 96 Asian Cups and coming second in 92.
However this proud nation has failed to qualify for the last 2 world cups and are making the first appearance since 2006. They have also fallen in Asia too, going from 3 time champions to being knocked out in group stage of the Asian Cup in 3 of the past 4 tournaments.
The team itself is filled with very competent players who can play some very nice football when it comes down to it. Saudi Arabia love to counter attack against strong opposition and have very pacey forwards and good midfielders. However these forwards are now pushing into their 30's and not quite as quick as they used to be. Where they really struggle is defensively as they are not a very physical side and can be bullied off the ball rather easily.
They pride themselves on being able to run teams off the park with a lot of their goals coming in the later stages of games. This works a treat when they play at home in 40°C weather. They have a strong home record even in friendlies but have a rather atrocious away record filled with draws to weaker opposition.
Much like Russia, the majority of the team are based inside their mother country; in fact 16 of the 23 man squad are from just 2 clubs. Only 3 players play outside of Saudi Arabia, however they are only on loan to Spanish teams and are just used as squad players with all 3 of them combined only being capped 3 times in Spanish football. With this in mind, I find it difficult to see how a team that uses the heat to beat its opponents can fair in Russian Summer conditions.
Both teams have a history of strength but have fallen on tough times. With both national teams boasting players mainly from their national leagues, it is one of the few games that truly has a Nation v Nation feeling.
World Cup history is on Russia's side with the Host nation never losing the opening game of a tournament. I'm tempted to say 1-1, but with Saudi Arabia's awful away record, I will call it, 2-1 for Mother Russia. May Putin smile on us all.
* Pre-1990, Russia were the Soviet Union, who have made it as far as the Semi-Finals in 1966, finishing 4th.
No comments:
Post a Comment