Russia to show ruthless streak
With the wounds of their World Cup nightmare still too fresh to ignore, Dick Advocaat’s players are in no mood to relax against the Group B minnows.
A draw will be enough for Russia to seal top spot and automatic qualification at Ireland’s expense but this is a team who know only too well not to take anything for granted.
They learnt that harsh lesson two years ago when they took a 2-1 lead to Slovenia for the second leg of the World Cup play-offs, lost 1-0 on the night and went out on the away goal rule.
Worse followed when various Russian newspapers claimed their players had been drinking and smoking from hookah pipes in celebration before the game in Maribor had even been played.
Instead of finding themselves in South Africa, some of the Russian players found themselves in libel courts fighting to clear their names. All of which makes it easier to understand why the Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko will take nothing for granted tomorrow.
He wants Andorra put to the sword as he looks to cross the border to Poland and the Ukraine next summer.
“We know that a draw is enough for us against Andorra but I have never, ever played for a draw in any match,” said Pavlyuchenko.
“The only way to get what you want in football is to win and that is exactly what we are going to do against Andorra. “We got a good three points in Slovakia but the important thing now is to get three more.
“The approach in Moscow will be the same as it was it Zilina. We want to win the game.
“We have one more step to take and that is to win against Andorra. Then we can celebrate.”
Spurs star Pavlyuchenko has also revealed that his team-mates feared the behaviour of some Russian fans could have cost their team dear in Zilina on Friday. A Champions League match involving Aiden McGeady’s Spartak Moscow in the same stadium was halted for over half an hour in December 2010.
The referee took the players back to the dressing-room that night when Spartak fans threw flares and smoke bombs onto the pitch in protest at the death of a supporter shot in Russia.
The match, which McGeady and Spartak won, was eventually resumed but Russian players feared a repeat on Friday when a section of their crowd ripped up seats in the MKS Stadium.
“It was a concern for us because it happened on more than one occasion. We were afraid the game would be delayed or even called off when the referee was told about it,” admitted Pavlyuchenko.
Tottenham’s fourth choice striker, repeatedly linked with a move back to his homeland in the January transfer window, has also claimed that his disallowed ‘goal’ against Slovakia on Friday night was onside.
“My friends texted me after the match to say the goal was good. I will have to make sure everything is right when I look to score against Andorra,” he said.
