Russia seek triumph over adversity
Friday, March 23, 2007
Article summary
Russia coach Guus Hiddink insists there is "no point crying" about his decimated squad - and he stresses that only victory will do when his side face Estonia.
Article body
Having recovered from a poor start to their UEFA EURO 2008™ 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."