Russia announced their final 26 men squad for the Euros after trimming down the iånitial provisional squad on June 1st.Coach Stanislav Cherchesov will be managing yet another tournament for Russia after doing exceedingly well in the 2018 World Cup.
Russia UEFA Euro 2020 Squad :
Goalkeepers: Yuri Dyupin (Rubin), Matvei Safonov (Krasnodar), Anton Shunin (Dinamo Moskva)
Defenders: Igor Diveev (CSKA Moskva), Georgi Dzhikiya (Spartak Moskva), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moskva), Vyacheslav Karavaev (Zenit), Fedor Kudryashov (Antalyaspor), Andrei Semenov (Akhmat)
Midfielders: Dmitri Barinov (Lokomotiv Moskva), Denis Cheryshev (Valencia), Daniil Fomin (Dinamo Moskva), Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco), Daler Kuzyaev (Zenit), Andrei Mostovoy (Zenit), Maksim Mukhin (CSKA Moskva), Magomed Ozdoev (Zenit), Rifat Zhemaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moskva), Yuri Zhirkov (Zenit), Roman Zobnin (Spartak Moskva)
Forwards: Artem Dzyuba (Zenit), Aleksei Ionov (Krasnodar), Denis Makarov (Rubin), Aleksei Miranchuk (Atalanta), Aleksandr Sobolev (Spartak Moskva), Anton Zabolotny (CSKA Moskva)
Key Player: Artem Dzyuba
If Russia wants to enjoy a successful Euro campaign they will rely on Artem Dzyuba's prolific nature in front of the goal. The 32-year-old is still in his prime to be fair, scoring another flurry of goals for Zenit in the recently concluded season. Russia will be hoping he continues to do so. Dzyuba and the Russian team are like coinciding names. The valiant goalscorer has rippled the net 29 times in 52 appearances. While that might not look like a staggering number but most of those strikes have come in moments of disparity. It shows the player's decisiveness in the final third. Continuous hunting for goals makes him deadly. Dzyuba is physically strong, a good striker in minimum space and clinical with his headers. His all-around goal scoring is phenomenal. Russia wants to build upon the Euros strongly with Dzyuba at the center stage of it.
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Strength & Weakness :
The strength for Russia is they have individuals with bags full of experience. Artem Dzyuba along with Denis Cherysev and Alexander Golovin tasted success in doing exceedingly well as hosts in the 2018 World Cup. They reached the quarter final stages of the competition defeating Spain in the previous round. Most of them earned big moves to overseas clubs after the tournament performing decently. So, the task will be the same for them. Also, the main personnel of the national team hasn't changed from that success three years back. The core is unchanged and it will prove crucial for Russia to attempt another great show in the Euros on the road. Russia's midfield is also strong. Manager Stanislav is brilliant in getting on with the players to blend with his tactics.
But there are problems. Especially their defending. The team has got stuck on their progress for poor shows from the backline. Especially after Sergei Ignashevich's retirement after the 2018 World Cup Russia have not looked that solid at the back. There is a problem on the attacking front too. Although Dzyuba brings in goals and has scoring partners like Miranchuk, Sobolev and Makarov, Russia haven't provided open play opportunities for them, relying on penalties and set-pieces. But Serbian-born Sobolev has consistency in finding the back of the net from open play. It is down to the group to create plenty of them.
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Russia will be wishing to get defensively solid again and look for a Cherysev or Dzyuba brilliance on the break. Even though the method is far off from this side to commit it won't be a surprise for them to unfold one in the Euros. They could also play to the power of the individuals upfront and with some decent midfield players create significant chances to score through their reliable front line. It is left to see which Russia turns up in a week's time.
To check regular updates stay tuned to Euro 2020
