Road to Rio: Capello works his magic on Russia

Dignitaries from all over the world will gather in Brazil in early December for the FIFA World Cup draw as the field of teams is divided into groups for next summer’s festivities. As part of its “32 teams in 32 days” series, SPORTSNET.CA will profile each of the nations set to compete at Brazil, leading up to the draw on Dec. 6.

Fabio Capello inherited a bit of a mess when he took over as Russia’s coach last summer, succeeding Dutchman Dick Advocaat who stood down following the team’s early exit from the Euro 2012. Prior to that, Russia failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 and 2010, so Capello had a difficult task ahead of him. But the Italian manager quickly went to work, taking an underachieving and unspectacular team, and built them into a side capable of grinding out results. Capello’s workmanlike attitude that he imparted to his players paid dividends, as Russia topped a qualifying group that included Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. After a 12 year absence, Russia is back at the World Cup. No wonder the Russian FA wants to extend Capello’s contract.

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How they got here: Consistency and a strong defensive record saw the Russians win Group F ahead of favoured Portugal. Russia beat the teams it was supposed to beat (Israel and Luxembourg) and defeated Portugal early on in a result that put them in the pole position to claim first place. Seven wins out of 10 matches (with one draw) was earned on the strength of back line that conceded just five times.

Key result: Russia didn’t secure its World Cup berth until the final matchday when it earned a 1-1 draw on the road against Azerbaijan. But it was a 1-0 win over Portugal in Moscow on Oct. 12, 2012 that allowed the Russians to take control of Group F. Both teams won their opening two matches, so this victory saw Russia jump out to first place and it would not relinquish its lead the rest of the way, eventually winning the group by two points over Portugal, who were forced into the playoffs.

Star player: Aleksandr Kerzhakov might be getting a bit long in the tooth, but the 30-year-old striker is a vitally important player for Capello’s side. The Zenit St. Petersburg star led the team in scoring with five goals in qualifying and ranks second on the country’s all-time scoring list with 24 – just two behind Vladimir Beschastnykh. Far from a traditional target man, Kerzhakov likes to drop further back in order to link up with the midfield, thus creating space for his teammates to exploit.

Player on the bubble: Left full back Andrei Yeshchenko recently appeared in a friendly against Serbia as a substitute for his first Russia appearance since March after returning from a severe knee injury. He made his national team debut last September and went on to win seven caps. But the Anzhi defender is coming off a lengthy injury layoff, and will have his work cut out over the next six months to earn his place back on the squad.

Team strengths: Russia has a few things going for itself. No matter what you thought of the job he did with England, Fabio Capello is an experienced manager who has quickly moulded the Russian team into a competitive side. Defensively, Capello’s squad is strong, and they can rely on balanced scoring, with the likes of Kerzhakov, Aleksandr Kokorin, Viktor Fayzulin and Roman Shirokov supplying a steady stream of goals in the qualifying campaign. And in Igor Akinfeev, they have one of the best goalkeepers in the game today.

Need to work on: Akinfeev is an accomplished shot stopper, but Russia’s problem is that it doesn’t have anybody to back him up. Yury Lodygin is an inexperienced goalkeeper who at age 23 has yet to earn his first cap for Russia. Sergei Ryzhikov, 33, has been around the block but has only made one appearance for Russia during his playing career. If Akinfeev goes down with an injury, Russia could be in trouble. Also, while certainly competitive, the Russian team lacks genuine creativity and flare, with the knock against them being that they lack a genuine game-breaker.

World Cup Record

1930 to 1990: Competed as Soviet Union