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The Rise of Russia

The Rise of Russia


The Rise of Russia

Russian football is currently in a transitional period, and after the national team's exploits in Euro 2008, the country has proved that they can compete with the best now. An incredible amount of talent is coming out of Russia, and a lot of money invested. There are certianly signs that this will be an important time in Russian football.

The likes of Spartak Moscow, CSKA Moscow and Lokomotiv Moscow are regularly churning out talented youngsters, and with the financial backing of the oligarchs, these sides are building teams that are beginning to compete with the best.

But there have been signs this would happen for a long time. CSKA Moscow winning the UEFA Cup was no fluke, and the country has been in transition since.

Just this year, Rubin Kazan shocked the country and won the championship; and there are plenty of signs that this team is producing some good young players too. For example, Aleksandr Bukharov and Aleksandr Ryazantsev, who both proved they can be important fringe players for the national team.

Only recently, Guus Hiddink called up two of Russia's brightest prospects into the national team, Aleksandr Prudnikov and Alan Dzagoev. Many hint that Dzagoev could be the best player to come from Russia for some time.