TOMORROW in the Land of the Tsars, the first game of the 2018 World Cup will kick off. Host nation Russia will face Saudi Arabia at 11 p.m. Philippine time in front of 80,000 spectators at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, with billions more around the world watching.
The Russians have a proud football history. But unlike the Red Army of the Soviet Union, the current crop of Russian footballers are lackluster at best.
In this World Cup where they qualified as hosts, the Russians are hard-pressed to reclaim lost glory. Pundits, though, give them little chance of doing much.
Still, Russia can consider itself fortunate after it was drawn with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in Group A. If it doesn’t screw up against the Saudis and the Egyptians, Russia is assured of advancing to the knockout stages. The only problem is that the hosts will face either Portugal and Spain, both Round of 16 shoo-ins from Group B.
For now, this is the most likely scenario, one that head coach Stanislav Cherchesov and his staff must have been preparing for not as an obstacle but an opportunity for greatness. Beating either of former world champions Spain and European champions Portugal would be a massive feat for dark horses no one bothers with.
Russia’s preparations leading to the World Cup do not inspire confidence among its followers. Of eight friendlies played, it has not won a single match since beating South Korea 4-2 last October.
It lost 0-1 to Argentina, 0-3 to Brazil, 1-3 to possible quarterfinals opponent France, and 1-0 to Austria. The hosts drew 3-3 with Spain, and 1-1 with both Iran and Turkey, its final assignment before the tournament.
And yet it is the drawn game against mighty Spain in Saint Petersburg that might reveal Russia’s true strength and grit.
Down by two early goals, Russia clawed its way back to even the score after before the visitors were given its second penalty. The hosts equalized but Spain kept its 10-game unbeaten run, which it managed to extend to 14 to wrap up its World Cup preparations.
I suspect the Russians are hiding a huge surprise in its World Cup arsenal akin to the Tsar Bomba, the Father of All Bombs. And If that Russian team that made Spain sweat buckets turns up in the later stages, the pretenders to the trophy are in deep trouble.