Russia: Egor Titov

Russia midfielder Egor Titov has all the attributes of a potential World Cup superstar.

The Spartak Moscow playmaker has long been regarded as one of the best players outside the major European leagues.

Under the tutelage of Spartak and Russia coach Oleg Romantsev, Titov has become a major player in the Russian and European club scene since breaking through the first team in 1995.

Titov is a diminutive playmaker in the Zinedine Zidane mould.

He has potent shooting ability and silky dribbling skills, reminiscent of the former USSR World Cup hero Igor Belanov, or more pertinently, midfield colleague Aleksandr Mostovoi.

He is allowed a free rein by Romantsev as he is comfortable in a floating forward role, playing behind a target-man which has seen him score more than goals for Spartak.

He already has over 30 international caps to his name, six Russian league titles, two Russian Player of the Year awards and a wealth of Champions League experience.

Titov is not short of confidence either, and once stated he had ‘‘no need to move abroad,’’ as his club were ‘‘head and shoulders’’ above their Champions League opposition.

His breakthrough year was 1998.

Despite missing out on the World Cup finals in France that summer, Titov featured in Spartak’s march to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, joined the Russian Under-21 side that reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Championship and was named Russian Player of the Year.

He received the award again two years later, when he scored 13 goals, making him Russia’s third top goal scorer.

Titov scored three times as Russia took Group 1 of the UEFA zone qualifiers, but his role then was to lay on the ammunition for prolific club-mate Vladimir Bestchastnykh, who weighed in with seven goals, including a hat-trick against Switzerland.

Romantsev is likely to deploy a more defensive line up at the finals, where they start in Group H, facing co-hosts Japan, Belgium and Tunisia.

This means Titov could play solely behind Bestchastnykh, but if they need to attack, young Lokomotiv Moscow prodigy Marat Izmailov could start.

Lokomotiv Moscow goalkeeper Ruslan Nigmatullin, who took Titov’s Russian Player of the Year berth, marshals a mean defence.

However, the team’s strength is midfield where Romantsev will naturally select Titov as a playmaker.

Former Lokomotiv player Alexei Smertin occupies the midfield anchor-man role in front of a defence that is well marshalled by the experienced sweeper Viktor Onopko.

If in favour, Celta veterans Mostovoi and Valery Karpin will feature, but if not, the more prosaic talents of Rolan Goussev and Dmitri Alenichev will back up Titov.

The Belgium game will bring back memories of the 1986 second-round defeat in Mexico, a storming encounter which finished 4-3 after extra time despite a hat-trick for Igor Belanov.

The independent Russia are back for only their second World Cup finals since the USSR split back in 1991.

The Soviet era saw consistently strong teams, dominated by talented Moscow and Kiev-based players, but who were unable to transform their club form onto the world stage.

Their best-ever showing came way back in 1966 when they were beaten in the semi-finals by West Germany and went on to lose against Portugal in the third-placed play-off.

Russia became the first and so far only former USSR country to appear at the World Cup at USA ’94.

A 2-0 defeat to Brazil was followed by a 3-1 reverse by Sweden, their only comfort came from a 6-1 thrashing of Cameroon.

The game was memorable for Oleg Salenko’s five-goal haul, which set him up as joint-top scorer at the competition, alongside Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov.

Russians will be hoping that their new midfield hero can go further than Salenko, Mostovoi, et al and lead them to big-time success.