“Absenteeism from the group will be perceived as a great failure”: how Russia evaluated the results of the draw for Euro 2020

Lucky Draw

The Russian national football team recognized its last rival in the group stage of the 2020 European Championship. In addition to Belgium and Denmark, Finland will compete with her for reaching the playoffs of the tournament. Being the owners of the continental championship, the wards of Stanislav Cherchesov fell into group B.

After qualification, it became known that Russia will be in the second basket as a team with the best UEFA rating among the runners-up. Thus, it was already clear in advance that Belgium and Denmark would become its rivals. The draw turned out to be favorable to her, and the quartet was supplemented by the European Championship debutant Finland, and not Wales, notorious for Russian fans in the group stage of the continent championship in 2016.

According to the results of the draw, Quartet F can be considered the unconditional death group, combining the current world champions - France, the current owners of the main European trophy - the Portuguese and the German national team. The winner of the A or D League of Nations will replenish it.

In addition, it became known the schedule of matches with the participation of Russians. On June 13 and 17 they will hold two home meetings in St. Petersburg - with Belgium and Finland, respectively. On June 22, they have an away game with Denmark in Copenhagen.

“Russia knows how to change”

The Finnish national team managed to break into the final stage of Euro 2020 from the second line of Group J, where Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia and Liechtenstein played in addition to it. Stanislav Cherchesov chose not to make high-profile statements following the draw, but assured that the coaching staff will thoroughly examine each opponent.

“We have experience playing with Wales at the last European Championship, it was not the most positive. As for the Finns, they played quite high quality qualifications. We can say that we easily got to the European Championship, it says a lot. They have a lot of football players playing abroad. There is something to think about, ”said the mentor on Match TV.

His counterpart to the Belgian national team Roberto Martinez also summed up the draw. He praised the quality of the game of Russians, and also noted that you should not judge a team by its performance in qualification.

“Russia is an interesting team that can change. She played two different matches with us in the qualifying tournament, in the second she played attacking football. But we remember what it was like at the World Cup, in a game with Spain, for example, ”Martinez quotes Sport Express.

Recall that Belgium was the main competitor of Russia in the struggle for the first place in Group I of the qualifying round. Both face-to-face meetings ended in a major defeat for Cherchesov's wards - 1: 3 and 1: 4.

“If Belgium lost two times, this does not mean that we can lose the third. It happened to us in Spain in 2008 - we lost 0: 3, 1: 4, and then we won on a penalty spot. I wouldn’t set the task to fight for second place now, because it’s a minimum program, ”the Honorary President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) Vyacheslav Koloskov shared his opinion.

Head of the RFU Alexander Dyukov said that at the moment, the priority for the Russian team is a successful performance at the group stage of Euro 2020. Only after completing this task will it be possible to talk about goals at the playoff stage.

“A lot will depend on how this or that team will be ready directly for this tournament. If we talk about the national team of Finland, they confidently held the qualifying tournament. It’s clear that they have a debut, but in principle they, like Denmark, are distinguished by a good organization of the game and there are a sufficient number of experienced players who play in strong European championships, ”said Dyukov.

In general, experts came to the conclusion that Russia has good chances of leaving the group. So, according to ex-captain of the national team Alexander Mostovoy, Cherchesov’s wards were lucky that Finland became the fourth team, since Wales represents a more serious force. In addition, he called a positive factor that they will hold two meetings at home stands.

“All teams of our level in this tournament will set the task of leaving the group. If you were performing in another country, there would be options. But here we play two matches at home, therefore, of course, we should go to the playoffs, ”Mostovy quotes“ Championship ”.

A similar point of view was expressed by the former forward of the national team Dmitry Bulykin. He stressed that the Russians have all the resources in order to beat the wards of Markku Canerva.

“To play against Denmark in Copenhagen only in the third match, of course, is a bit unpleasant, but these are small subtleties that should not greatly affect the result of the national team. Although it’s clear that there will be a very important meeting with the Danes, ”Sport24 quotes Bulykina.

Ex-goalkeeper Ruslan Nigmatullin said that the team can take the second place in the group. In addition, he told how to act in the masts with other rivals.

“In general, the option of not leaving the group will be perceived as a big failure. Denmark and Finland are rivals that we can handle. They demonstrate a good level of football, they need to act confidently, from a position of strength. If we play in the same way as with Scotland, Kazakhstan, Cyprus, then there will be no problems, ”Nigmatullin is sure.

It is worth noting that the team, which took second place in Group B, will go to the representative of Quartet A, which at the moment are Italy, Switzerland and Turkey.

At the same time, some experts called for no hasty conclusions. So, the former Spartak midfielder Alexander Samedov called group B complex. In his opinion, do not underestimate not only Belgium, but also Denmark.

“In the initial scenario, everything goes to the point that the decisive match will be with Denmark. But with Belgium we play at home, there will be emotions, support. Why not get points there? It is clear that this is a favorite of the group. And we and the Scandinavians will fight for second place, equal chances. Our team is in no way inferior to the Danes, ”Samedov is sure.

According to the former striker of Tottenham Roman Pavlyuchenko, much will depend on in what form the participants will approach the tournament.

“In our group, very unyielding rivals have gathered, if someone thinks that there will be no problems with the Danes, then they are mistaken. In general, the Finns will also not be easy, because this is not the qualifying round, but only three matches. Everyone will fight. It is clear that the Belgians will not give anyone a chance, in any case they will take first place. I think that ours should take the second place, ”Pavlyuchenko suggested.