If Russia can advance from the group stage for the first time in their history, many would consider it a successful tournament.
Alan Dzagoev
Slutsky, Dzyuba Downbeat On Russia’s Euro 2016 Chances
Russia has enjoyed varied degrees of success since Guus Hiddink took the side to a third place finish at Euro 2008. Dreary football and failure to qualify for one of the last three tournaments in the years that followed meant that Russian football was struggling to comprehend it’s failure after witnessing some of it’s best performances.
The appointment of a new domestically respected manager and a strong finish to qualifying has revived expectations back home. The man in charge though is not so confident and has put an air of limitation on what his side can achieve.
Euro 2016 Team Preview: Russia
As part of The Soviet Union, Russia won the inaugural European Championship in 1960 and went onto put in impressive performances thereafter finishing as runners-up in 1964, 1972 and 1988. Since the break up of The Soviet Union Russia have qualified for every tournament except Euro 2000. Their best performance occurred when a Guus Hiddink inspired Russia reached the Semi-finals in 2008.
