Russia begins preparations for World Cup qualifiers
Published 25 March, 2009, 14:53
The Russian football national squad has assembled prior to their World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan on Saturday and Lichtenstein on Wednesday.
Guus Hiddink’s men will start as heavy favourites against Berti Vogts team, who've picked up just one point from their opening three games.
Guus Hiddink has worked wonders with Chelsea over the last month – winning 6 out of 8 matches. Now the Dutchman will try to work his magic with the Russian national team – as he tries to get his adopted country through to the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010.
Hiddink isn't the only person from the Russian camp plying his trade in England at the moment.
Though Roman Pavlychenko started well at Tottenham, he has rarely appeared in the last few weeks, while Andrey Arshavin has made an immediate impact with his new club Arsenal.
As usual, the former Zenit player will be central to Hiddink's plans, and the Dutchman is pleased at how Arshavin has settled in with the London side.
There are no injury problems for Hiddink to worry about heading into the match. Most of the players will be fresh with the Russian season only having started a couple of weeks ago.
And if the match goes according to form, Russia should have few problems against an Azerbaijan side whose only point so far came from a goalless draw at home with Lichtenstein.
Also on Wednesday, the Russian Football Council (RFS) and Adidas unveiled a new football uniform, in which team Russia will play till 2010.
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