Yes but euro and world cup were not played in russia. You will think of me when they will reach round 16.
I don't care about friendlies. If you think it will be the same to beat Russia in a world cup organised by russia in front of Poutine you really don't know much about this country.
OTOH, The teams that failed to qualify from leagues A and B had easier groups during the traditional qualifying round.
I'm not saying they won't reach the round of 16. Just saying that its not a sure thing like you seem to be implying.
I am sure yes. Then we just have to wait. Playing an official game in Russia is something special. Even the best european teams tend to struggle there and are happy when they leave with a tie. It is not friendlies and a confederation cup that they used to prepare that will change my mind. Only an european team or the best south americans will be able to stop Russians tournament there.
Russian team is always hard to predict. We had epic wins and epic fails in the recent history that was hard to explain. I doubt the new team quality build on friendly matches. CC2017 results where average, but this was even better than I expected.
My last girlfriend is peruvian. I got affection for this squad but i don't think they will beat Russia either. I was thinking about Argentina Brazil and Uruguay.
I don't even think most Russians have expectations of reaching the round of 16. I believe there will be too much pressure on them by government officials/media and they will find a way to fall flat. We shall see if they can bring in better quality then what we saw in the Confederations. I am fully expecting them to play better, but it still may not be enough.
They won't have a group with the european champions and the best team from north and central america. They were with portugal and mexico! And they were forced to win against Mexico. First they will have a better group. Second if they play Mexico from knock out stages avoiding a team going through with a tie it won't be the same music.
Even so, it is not like they looked all that great against New Zealand either. IT will depend on the draw which could help immensely but a good African and Asian team won't go down easily either. Would it be difficult for you to see them get three draws? That probably won't be enough but it could be. We shall see.
Truth is it all depends on the draw. They could get Spain, Italy, Uruguay or Mexico, which would be games I expect them to lose. Everyone else should be within their grasp. In pot 3 they have a big chance for a decent team, although I wouldn't like their chances against the likes of Sweden, Serbia or Egypt. If they get a European team in pot 2, then the worst the can get in pot 2 will likely be Egypt. They should be able to cope with anyone in pot 4, save for Nigeria. South Africa, despite not making it through, actually probably had the worst draw of any host in history and they still had 4 pts and weren't that far off from qualifying. So who knows?
It is not really about looking great but about going through. And they will. They will have the group they need for that. You will see in few months how hard it is to beat Russia on their soil in their world cup and that only the best teams in the world will be able to achieve that. UEFA + Commebol
Why milinkovic savic and zivkovic are not called?? It makes me crazy! Serbia can have a run but the team needs them!
Thank you Madame Cleo for your crystal ball prediction but I will remain skeptical until I actually see who they will play and see how they look closer to the tournament.
No idea. How Muslin is calling up Kostic over Milinkovic is a mystery to all. He's even been asked that several times, but say its too early for Milinkovic and Zivkovic. He's one stubborn idiot with his team selection (he has some obvious dead weight on the team), but I like how Serbia are setup with him tactically. Still not inventive enough in attack. Milinkovic and Zivkovic could change that. Both have been called up before, but they never make the final 23 list, just the preliminary list.
You can call me whatever you want they could lose 5-0 against Bengladesh on march that they will still be hard to beat as the real game starts. Look at russian qualifiers since 20 years and you will see that they don't lose often there. Poutine is not joking with that. Even being ugly you will have warriors on the pitch that will get past this group phase. They lost only one game on three in 2014 not being seeded in south america. And it was against a 1/4 finalist. Now they are seeded they are at home and they will get the advantages coming along. Not hard to make the difference...
I hate him for that. They are golden players. And they got both the skills and mentality to take Serbia far in the tournament. A midfield matic milinkovic-savic with tadic zivkovic lajic mitrovic ahead of them could do wonders there! If they are in it changes everything!
They can get all the advantages and favoritism in the world but if they face creative teams that can bully them in the midfield they can be in trouble. Even... ...*Gasp*... ....teams from Asia, Africa, CONCACAF, etc.
Having a hard time is something lose the game is something else. None of asians africans and concacaf teams (except maybe Mexico) will stop Russia there. They will step up just as every world cup organizers do. Even a south african team could manage to make it competitive in a tough group with a weak team....
I can see Egypt or Nigeria or even Costa Rica beating Russia. I am not saying it will happen but it would not shock me. But I don't want to talk in general terms with hypothetical scenarios. I will wait until December to see if Russia has a good chance or not at advancing. But based on what I have seen of them so far I can't say it is encouraging.
None of what will happen before the first world cup game in june is really meaningful. They will prepare to be at 300 % the day it starts. You give too much importance to friendlies...
both Costa Rica and Ivory Coast have already beaten Russia in their own backyard. Iran drew with them in their own backyard, and this guy is so confident that only Brazil or Argentina can stop Russia outside of European teams. What a joke. Where is this false confidence comming from ? He can claim "its just a friendly" all he wants, but there is a trend here, they've been crap AT HOME against some average teams, they were crap at the Euro's and crap at the confed, and teams dont just suddenly get better when the actual tournament starts. Russia has been poor for a while, and I dont see much changing. Well they play Spain and Argentina next month, we will get a good idea.
France missed 2 world cups in a row before win it at home. South Korea and Japan never got past group phase before reach semi finals and round 16 in 2002. South Africa as one of the weakest organisers in the last 30 years managed to get 4 points in a group with mexico uruguay and france. Confidence just comes from logic. I am not russian just pragmatic. If you think Poutine let Russia invest billions in a world cup to make fools of themselves in front of the world you don't know much about him and the history of this country.
Russian officials can't magically make chicken salad out of chicken crap. Not saying they can't advance but to say their government or monetary investment will help them go through is just plain strange with no logical basis.