Russia make it to playoffs and draw with Slovenia

November 2nd, 2009 | by: nick | Comments(10)

Hello all Russia fans. Sorry about not getting back to you sooner with a post. I will sum up the recent events and share my views and opinions in one entry. As all of you know Russia lost to Germany in Moscow and then drew with Azerbaijan in Baku to qualify for a playoff spot to face Slovenia.

RUS 0-1 GER
The game in Moscow was dominated by Germany. I think that Hiddink fielded the proper lineup but they could not break the German discipline and overtake them. Hiddink used a classic 4-4-1-1 formation and with Arshavin and Kerzhakov up front. However, Hiddink’s mistake was to put Pavlyuchenko on the field for Kerzhakov. Pavlyuchenko is clearly out of form due to his lack of playing time at Tottenham. Pogrebnyak who gets plenty of playing time in Stuttgart would have been a more ideal replacement for Kerzhakov.

AZE 1-1 RUS
With a playoff spot secured, I was not surprised Russia drew with Azerbaijan in Baku. Hiddink clearly fielded an experimental squad. Players like Aleksei Rebko and Aleksandr Burharov made their debuts for the national team. I think this is very beneficial for the Russian team as it rejuvenates the squad and allows for a bit of internal competition which forces better work ethic from the players. Russia also seemed to have gotten on the back foot after scoring and allowed Azerbaijan to equalize.

Play-off
I think that Russia were lucky in drawing with Slovenia. Slovenia are probably the easier of the four teams but did achieve a few upsets including a 3-0 home victory over Poland and 2-0 away victory over Slovakia. I hope that Hiddink bolsters the defense for the first leg and goes for a more attacking formation in the second leg.

Thats all I have to say for now, I look forward to your comments.