A ticket to Euro 2021 against successes in the League of Nations: why autumn youth matches are more important than the games of the main Russian team

Against the background of the adult Russian national team, youth affairs often seem much less significant.

That is why the fact that a number of talented and star players ended up not in the main team, but in the second team, caused a storm of indignation not only among fans, but also among specialists.

Undoubtedly, the conditional Alexander Maksimenko, Matvey Safonov and Konstantin Kuchaev, could well strengthen Stanislav Cherchesov's squad and even appear on the field in the games with Serbia and Hungary in the League of Nations, however, they went to solve other problems.

And at the moment these tasks are of paramount importance for the RFU.

The Russian youth team rarely sought the right to compete in the European Championship.

Since 1992, she has won a ticket to the Euro only three times.

And the point here is not only a lack of skill, but also a very strict selection system.

So, until 2017, only eight of the strongest teams made it to the final stage.

And this despite the fact that only once less than 44 teams participated in the qualification.

The relative successes of the Russians in this championship occurred in the 1990s, when the wards of Boris Ignatiev and Mikhail Gershkovich made their way to the final stage.

True, it was never possible to get past the quarterfinals.

In 1994, the French stood in the way with Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram, and four years later, the future Spanish champions with Michel Salgado, Juan Carlos Valeron and Guti.

But those qualifications were understandable.

In those days, the Soviet teams were considered a serious force in Europe.

After the collapse of the USSR and the emergence of problems with the education of young players, the difference between Russians and representatives of leading European teams became very solid, which was especially evident at the youth level.

In 2013, the Russian national team qualified for the Euro for the first time after a 19-year break, but it did not perform very well there either.

Nikolai Pisarev's wards were in the same group with Germany, Spain and the Netherlands and suffered three defeats with a total score of 2: 8.

Seven years later, the Russian national team has an excellent opportunity to repeat the achievement of Pisarev's squad and for the second time in the 21st century to win a ticket to the Euro.

Galaktionov's team has 14 points in six matches and is leading in the fifth group, ahead of Bulgaria and Poland.

Undoubtedly, the RFU understands the significance of this event, therefore they provide the mentor with all the necessary means to achieve the goal.

As the Match TV commentator Denis Kazansky rightly noted in an interview with RT, the strength of the first team largely depends on the strength of the second.

This is perfectly confirmed by the results of the recent European Youth Championships.

In 2019, gold was won by one of the trendsetters in world football - the Spanish national team, in which the current Napoli midfield star Fabian Ruiz and the Real Sociedad lateral Mikel Oyarzabal shone.

Now they regularly enter the field for the senior team, and their total transfer value is € 110 million.

Two years earlier, the Spaniards, led by Atlético's Saul Niguez and Real Madrid's Marco Asensio, also reached the final but lost to the Germans.

In that team, one of the leaders of the current Bayern squad, Serge Gnabry, ruled the ball, and Dynamo footballer Maximilian Philippe played in the attack.

Bruno Fernandes, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham and Federico Bernardeschi from Juventus, among others, made a name for themselves at the time.

Like most of those players, part of the current roster of the Russian youth team would not be completely lost in the main one.

Maksimenko and Safonov could certainly compete with Anton Shunin and Marinato Guilherme, Igor Diveev - to oust Roman Neustadter, who is in search of the club, from the application, and Konstant Kuchaev and Daniil Utkin - to replace the injured Alexander Golovin and Alexey Miranchuk.

But at the moment they can play either in official or in semi-friendly matches, in which there is practically nothing serious at stake.

By and large, the League of Nations was conceived as an alternative to friendly matches, but at some point, fans began to overestimate its importance.

Plus, if a year earlier she really provided real chances to win a ticket to the European Championship, then the situation with the World Cup is much more complicated.

So, only the two best teams of the tournament among those who have not yet guaranteed themselves a performance at the world championship will get a chance to play in the play-off matches.

Unlike the main team, the youth team will meet with direct competitors, in which they need to prevail.

Yes, Galaktionov's wards have a certain reserve in front of their opponents, but you shouldn't relax.

Both Bulgarians and Poles have a game in reserve and in case of victory over the Russians they can displace them from the first place.

But only it gives a direct ticket to the Euro.

Due to the increase in the number of participants in the final round to 16 teams, the winners of all nine groups, as well as the five best teams that took second places, will get into the tournament.

The need to collect the best of those available is also dictated by the fact that in the first round of the group stage, the Russians could not beat any of their main rivals.

Both meetings ended in a draw, but if the score did not remain open with the Bulgarians, then four goals were scored in the confrontation with the Poles.

Galaktionov's wards were twice inferior during the confrontation, and restored parity only in the 91st minute.

Magomed-Shapi Suleimanov was the savior.

Initially, the Polish national team was considered the favorite of the fifth group, for which both the strongest line-up and the experience of performing at major tournaments spoke.

Red-and-white became participants in the last two championships of the continent, and a solid part of the players already now represent clubs from the strongest leagues of the Old World.

Goalkeepers Camille Grabara and Marcin Bulka “belong” to Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, Mateusz Bogusz to Leeds, and Patrick Klimala has played several matches for Celtic.

On paper, Bulgaria has a less stellar line-up, and the eminent club only has Petko Hristov.

True, until the defender really had time to play for Fiorentina, and spent the previous season with Bisceglie in the Italian Serie C. Nevertheless, Alexander Dimitrov's wards demonstrate very organized football and act well in defense.

They have conceded only once in five matches and, according to this indicator, share the second place among all the participants of the Euro 2021 qualifying tournament.

So far, only Italy has not missed it.

If the Russian national team beat Poland and Bulgaria, they will score 20 points and practically guarantee themselves the first place in the group.

In the last two rounds, in this case, the outsiders of the sextet - Latvia and Estonia - will wait for her, the victory over which should not become a serious challenge for Galaktionov's team.

In the first round, the meetings with them ended with a total score of 7: 0.