Russia has the quality, they just got overconfident and went on the backburner too early. Russia is definitely a contender.
I have to say, this is a really entertaining game from neutral perspective... and Goal Russia! Goal Dzagoev Russia 3:1 Czech Rep.
I always knew Russia was the strongest in this group. When I told others at pubs, they were always saying the Czechs were easily the best or that Poland was going to win the group. But this game proves a lot of people wrong.
Russians sure are looking like bona fide contenders for the title. Then again the Czechs are super poor.
not only this game but also after watching poland-greece i can say they should be BOTH afraid of russia... they play very very well.
Yeah I been watching them during qualifiers. And if you look at their players individually, pound-for-pound they easily have the best players in the group. We(USA) were VERY lucky to be playing Slovenia, who upset Russia during the WC playoffs. If we went up against Russia, I don't think we would've won.
Russia looks good they're so dangerous up front, but don't the Czechs have any holding midfielders. The Russians broke way too easily.
It does have to be said, the Czechs looked out of sync. How many times did the passes go meters wide of the direction a teammate was running? I do think Russia will win this group, but I can't help but think that a Spain or Germany will probably cut right through that defense. But it would be a lively game, that's for sure!
For the title? No, they aren't; just the best of four second-rate teams. The mediocre Czechs played extremely stupid, never even tried to make use of Russia's weaknesses. The Russians will win the group, and lose their first knockout game against a true contender.
Impressive performance by Russia. Winning like that against the Czechs is always a good sign, although Czech Republic seemed a little bit disorganised in the midfield.
Russia has some good attacking midfielders. Carved the Czechs up. Not sure about how good any of these teams are, though.
Russia's chance to win the title is roughly the same as Zenit St. Petersburg winning the CL; they are basically Zenit (7 players), plus 3 from CSKA Moscow and 1 from Anzhi Makhachkala. I think we can roughly assume that they compare to Spain or Germany like St. Petersburg to Barca or Bayern. Another interesting point is that they're by far the oldest team in the tournament, more than 30 years on average; not that promising for a tournament schedule. Better opponents than the Czechs will probably kill them in the second half.
Anyone who saw them dismantle Italy 3-0 would know how good they are. It's pretty common knowledge Russia were the best team in this group. The Czech's are past it, Greece are Greece, Poland are mediocre