Despite having a challenging group with several other good candidates for qualifying, I think eventually Russia will probably advance through its group and if it does, it'll become a force to be reckoned with by that time for the Euro's!
The team has a few very good players, some good players and lot of decent players and so the squad
has enough ability to succeed. Another huge factor in a team's success is its management/coaching and thankfully for Russia, they have one of the world's very best in charge of their national team now in form of the legendary, Guus Hiddink. :applause: :applause: :applause:
Now it may and probably will take a while for him to get as familiar to all the players and Russian national team, the fans and the culture in general as much as he needs to be and to put his magic into
full affect because these sorta things certainly can't happen immediately or over night. BUT it
WILL happen and
when this magician's affects are fully implemented in the team and the squad understands what he's all about and what he wants quite perfectly, he will make Russia a great team that will be tough for anybody to beat.
So it may take a while and not be an immediate thing but if I were Russian, I'd be looking very optimistic about the future. :8):
p.s. On a side note, I do hope Ivan Saenko gets a small chance sometime soon with the national team. He's a good player with blistering pace, still relatively young and can get a lot better even.
I don't expect him to be picked for the team just yet and make a huge impact but I think it's only fair if he's at least given a small chance. It won't do no harm to give him a few minutes as a sub in a game or two. Then if he impresses which I think he will if given the chance, he can become a permanent part of the squad and contribute something extra to the team. 
And if he doesn't, well then at least he got his chance and didn't impress and that's why he's not being selected anymore.
They should and I'm hoping Hiddink will call him up for a couple friendlies and give him a chance to earn his place that way.
EDIT: one more thing.
I like izmailov but I haven't seen him play for a while .
Marat has been my fav Russian player for quite a few years now. He's naturally very talented.
But sadly he's not as good as he could be and will never I'm quite confident now fulfill his huge potential because he's extremely injury-prone.
