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Russia awaits results from cash bonanza

Russia, hosts of the 2018 World Cup in a massive project championed by President Vladimir Putin, has low expectations for its side in Euro 2012 with an ageing squad who failed to make the last World Cup.

Few expect a repeat of the glory of 1960 when the USSR won the European Championship for the only time with a side that included legendary names like the goalkeeper Lev "the black spider" Yashin and striker Viktor Ponedelnik.

Neither the USSR nor Russia have won a trophy since. The best efforts were the Soviet Union’s appearances in the final of the European Championships in 1964, 1972 and 1988 and its World Cup fourth place in 1966.

Yet the domestic game has changed beyond all recognition in the last half decade, as cash injections from state and private shareholders in clubs brought in a new wave of foreign talent and coaches into Russian football.

There has been such an influx of foreign players into the Russian domestic league that the authorities have imposed a hugely controversial rule of a minimum of five Russian passport holders on the field at any one time.

Current foreign stars of the Russian league include Ivory Coast’s Seydou Doumbia, Ireland’s Aiden McGeady and Danny of Portugal.

After an end-of-season reshuffle of premier league coaches, five of the top eight sides in Russia are set to be managed by foreigners next year.

Money from state gas giant Gazprom transformed Zenit Saint Petersburg from an underperforming side known better for hard-core fans than football into 2008 UEFA cup winners.

Known now as Russia’s answer to England’s cash-rich Manchester City, Anzhi Makhachkala were an obscure club from the impoverished Caucasus until taken over by the well-connected oligarch Suleyman Kerimov in 2011.

Ploughing hundreds of millions of dollars into the club, Kerimov brought in talent ranging from Brazil’s Roberto Carlos to Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o and also tempted Dutch coach Gus Hiddink to lead a masterplan for European success.

With such money, what could possibly be wrong with Russian football?

Critics point to a range of woes that are holding up the game, above all the disintegration of grass roots youth training which collapsed along with the Soviet Union.

"There are enough talented kids, with the right movement. But the problem is that we have forgotten how to work with them," veteran Russian coach Gennady Kostylev told the Sport Express newspaper.

"In Soviet times there was a good system of preparation which had a result."

The hottest issue in Russian football is demands by top clubs led by CSKA and Zenit to soften the restrictions on foreign players, a need some commentators say is motivated by a lack of homegrown talent.

"How did it happen that in the last decade — at a time when colossal money was put into clubs — that the youth system has not worked?" asked the football editor of Sovetsky Sport Yevgeny Lovchev.

The lack of Russian players "is not a reason for cancelling the limit but analyzing what is going on in the youth and childrens’ system," he wrote.

Refereeing quality can be abysmal — once again for a major tournament no Russian referees have been chosen to work at Euro 2012.

Away from the top eight, Russian domestic matches can be depressing affairs watched by small crowds.

Poorly-kept pitches become quagmires especially at the beginning of spring, a problem that Samuel Eto’o angrily blamed for a goal-scoring drought. "On a bad pitch it’s hard to be a good artist," he commented.

But even die-hard cynics were encouraged by a thrilling end to the Russian season. While Zenit cruised to victory with a 13 point gap, six other teams fought out the places for European competition on a memorable final day.

"We are moving from a standstill. The people putting money into Russian football — and a lot of it — have got tired of hearing bad things said of them," wrote Lovchev.

AFP/ Stuart Williams