Sports
Pages: 1 [2]
The Russian national football team should...
took over the Russian team in the summer of 2006 and worked wonders to transform the fortunes of a side that had become something of a national joke, taking it to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and making a genuine world star of diminutive forward Andrei Arshavin. He was hailed as the saviour of the Russian game and there were calls for him to be granted honorary citizenship. A number of children were also named after him by enthusiastic fans.However, he was criticized throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign for spending too little time in Russia and relying too heavily on the players who had served him so well at Euro 2008. Matters came to a head in a crucial play-off against tiny Slovenia when a lackluster and tired Russia crashed out after a 2-1 win at home was cancelled out by a 1-0 defeat in Maribor, much to the dismay of the watching Russian political and business elite.
FRANKFURT/VANCOUVER, February 10 (RIA Novosti)
Pages: 1 [2]