For reasons completely unrelated to football, Russians are not very popular worldwide right now and they won't have many supporters in Brazil either. Geopolitical issues are not the concern of Russian footballers though and they will be focusing exclusively on how to survive the group stage. They were lucky to be drawn against Belgium, Algeria and South Korea, with the European opponents being the dangerous ones
The key to making it to the next stage is collecting as many points as possible against lesser opponents, so the Russians will be playing aggressive football against the underdogs. In order to survive the danger posed by Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard, they will need to close ranks and bolster their defenses. Football is the only place where Belgium will be on the offense and the Eastern Europeans will have a hard time in putting up a convincing defense.
Group stage and event prospects
Belgium is credited with the first chance to win the group, while Russia comes in second and the odds given by Bet365 are quite promising at 3.25. This is the kind of bet that punters should contemplate, because despite all its talent and offensive prowess, Belgian is untested at this level. If they drop points against Algeria or South Korea, it is possible for them to qualify as runner ups.
For the time being, Russia needs to prepare for the worse and there are plenty of things that require a quick fix in the defense. They've got a handful of players that should be able to contain the strikers, but there is a gap between the defense and midfield. This problem will probably grow out of proportions after the group stage, when a shaky defense is a sure fire way to start packing. It comes as no surprise that bookmakers are not too optimistic about Russia's chances to win the event and the odds stand at 81 to 1.
Key players for Russia at the World Cup
Once again, the Russians have entrusted their fate in the hands of a foreign coach and they were smart enough to choose Fabio Capello for the job. This is the manager that can work wonders with relatively weak teams and unfortunately for them, Russia is just an above average squad. He didn't hesitate to replace Andrei Arshavin right away and Alan Dzagoev will be playing in his place. A lot is expected from him and so far the offensive midfielder delivered, scoring plenty of goals and creating great plays.
There is not a lot of pressure bearing on the players' shoulders right now, and Capello was given a lot of freedom in choosing the players that will make the starting formation. Besides the iconic goalkeeper, he will be relying on Kerzakhov upfront and he's expected to be the recipient of most balls. It comes as no surprise that he is also the favorite in the top scorer market reserved to Russians at odds of 67 to 1.
The bottom line
There is no doubt that Russia is an underdog and the World Cup 2014 and it's hard to recommend any bet on this team. Don't waste money by counting on the Eastern Europeans to make a deep run and forget about them giving the top scorer. The only calculated risk that might be worth taking is to back Russia to win the group at odds of 3.25 with Bet365.
