Talent, ambition and trust: why the current youth football team of Russia is the strongest in the history of the country

The sad story of "youth"

The Russian youth football team rarely pleases fans with loud victories, no matter how strong its composition is. Since 1998, the national team only once participated in the final stage of the U-21 European Championship, and last time went to the world championship back in 1995. At the Olympic Games, the national team was not selected at all from the triumphal of 1988.

At the same time, the strongest domestic football players went through the national team in different years: Igor Akinfeev, Alexander Kerzhakov, Andrey Arshavin, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Sergey Ignashevich and many others. But even the players who later took the bronze of Euro 2008 at the adult level, failed to achieve anything with the “youth team”.

The composition of the team that fought for a ticket to Euro 2006 under the leadership of Andrei Chernyshov is memorable. Then the team took second place in their group and in butt games met with Denmark. The coaching staff summoned to the team all the young stars who were suitable by age, even if they did not participate in previous selection meetings and were already actively playing for the adult team.

Yuri Zhirkov, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Vladimir Bystrov, Igor Akinfeev played with the Danes. Plus, in this team there were future stars of the national championship: Igor Denisov, Vladimir Gabulov, Andrey Yeshenko and Alexander Samedov. However, even they did not manage to break into the final stage of the Euro, and the return match with the Danes ended in scandal. Five players were immediately removed from Russia.

The only exception to the unsuccessful performances of recent years was the year 2013, when the team led by Nikolai Pisarev finally managed to at least break through to the continental championship (where, however, she did not win success, taking last place in her group). However, in the rivals of the domestic squad then were Spain, the Netherlands and Germany with a whole scattering of future stars in the composition.

Then the Russians failed to take away one of the rivals, although the team also had enough stars. George Shchennikov, Sergey Petrov, Oleg Shatov, Alan Dzagoev, Fedor Smolov, Denis Cheryshev arrived in Israel. And becoming the top scorer of the team in the five-goal selection, Alexander Kokorin missed the tournament only because of an injury.

Youth demand and the right benchmarks

After 2013, all attempts by the youth team to get into the European Championships invariably ended in failure, but the current convocation has all the prerequisites in order to not only repeat the success of its predecessors, but also surpass it.

Firstly, head coach Mikhail Galaktionov got at his disposal an incredibly talented generation of football players. Already, many youth players are the main ones in the RPL top clubs. Nail Umyarov and Alexander Maksimenko in the lead roles in Spartak. Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov and Matvey Safonov regularly enter the field from the first minutes in Krasnodar. And in CSKA Viktor Goncharenko trusts a number of young Russians: Igor Diveev, Ivan Oblyakov, Konstantin Kuchaev and Fedor Chalov. The team’s goalkeeper position is especially strong, because Maksimenko and Safonov are fighting for the number one post, and Galaktionov quite naturally shares the game practice between them.

Those soccer players of the “youth” who do not play for top clubs are also in demand in the teams a little more modestly. Until recently, Roman Evgeniev was the main central defender of Dynamo. Alexey Tataev is indispensable in the Czech “Mlade Boleslav”, and Nikita Kalugin - in “Sochi”. By tradition, young people actively trust in Ufa.

Of the players called up to the youth team for the next matches with Latvia and Serbia, only Nikita Kakkoev (Tom) and third goalkeeper Denis Adamov who plays for Krasnodar-2 have no practice in the RPL. One match in the elite was played by Lokomotiv defender Mikhail Lysov and Spartak midfielder Maxim Glushenkov, but their hour can be struck a bit later.

Some players who were not trusted in their teams decided to rent in order to receive regular gaming practice. A vivid example of this is Tataev, who had practically no chance to play at the base of Krasnodar, and therefore went to the Czech Republic. It is possible that in the near future Alexey will still get his chance in his native team.

Alexander Lomovitsky followed the same path. In the 2019/20 season, it would be objectively difficult for him to regularly appear in the starting lineup of Spartak, but in Tula Arsenal he is in demand and constantly goes on the field, which is especially important at this age. On lease in “Ufa” and “Tomi” respectively are another pupil of “Krasnodar” Artyom Golubev and belonging to “Zenith” Kakkoev.

The only worry is that some of the youth players have recently stopped receiving regular game practice in their clubs. It's about Nikolai Rasskazov, who until recently was the main defender in Spartak, but with the arrival of Domenico Tedesco, he sat on the bench. The change of coach and Dynamo Evgeniev and Vyacheslav Grulyov didn’t benefit. It is hoped that soon the situation will change, and young talented Russians will regain their place at the base.

Talent of Galaktionov

It is impossible not to say a few words about the head coach of the “youth team” Galaktionov. Michael, like his charges, is quite young. He is only 35 years old. At the same time, he began working at the Dynamo Academy, having barely crossed the 20-year mark.

And in 2014, a talented specialist went on to increase and headed the youth team of the country (up to 16 years). Starting to work with a generation of Russian football players in 1998 - 2000, he led him through all youth teams to the “youth team”. And some players managed to go all the way internationally under the guidance of a coach from the very first match: Lysov, Tataev, Razkazov.

Together with his talented team, Galaktionov made it to the semifinals of the European Championship 2015 (under 17 years old) and the playoffs of the 2015 World Championship. Then the specialist already played and Maksimenko, and Kuchaev, and Daniil Krugovoy, and Chalov, and Lomovitsky. Now they will try to slam the door loudly at the youth level and to say goodbye to the Galaktionov, who gave them a lot. It is significant how some players progress in the team. For example, Umyarov first revealed himself in “youth team”, and having received a boost of confidence, he became the main one in “Spartak”.

It seems that this generation of young Russian football players, smart beyond his years and fixated on his own careers in a good way, needs only the trust of coaches and constant practice. Then they can achieve a lot. At the age of 21, the very Chalov almost left for the nuclear submarines in the summer, and Suleymanov was actively interested in the Dortmund Borussia. Some of them will probably play in Europe, and most importantly, they themselves want this.

They can be called the “limit generation", but they are not so spoiled by money as the previous generation. Indeed, in domestic football in recent years they have ceased thoughtlessly scattering money. This is also why clubs are forced to trust their own youth, and some are already successfully earning from its sale, such as Ufa.

Moreover, Stanislav Cherchesov is already actively interested in football players of the current convocation of the “youth team”. So, in anticipation of the meetings with Belgium and San Marino, the 22nd-year-old Ufa midfielder Daniil Fomin, who was in the previous convocation, like Ilzat Akhmetov, Rifat Zhemeletdinov and Zelimkhan Bakaev, was called to the main team. Very soon, the stars of the “youth team” can make up their company.