Home nation are no football superpower

Manager Stanislav Cherchesov

Russia were unable to convert playing at home to their advantage during the Confederations Cup and it is difficult to see how things will be different at the World Cup.

The hosts opened up their Confederations campaign with a 2-0 win over New Zealand, but they were beaten by Portugal and Mexico to suffer a group-stage exit, as they had at the last World Cup and in Euro 2016 and 2012.

Mario Fernandes and Roman Neustadter have been nationalised in a desperate attempt to freshen up a squad lacking pace and imagination in most areas.

Their hopes are pinned on CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin, the golden boy of a relatively poor bunch in terms of emerging talent, with the vast majority playing in the Russian Premier League.

Of those picked for the November friendlies only Neustadter and Konstantin Rausch were based overseas.

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