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U21 Spotlight: Russia – Denmark

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A joint effort from Danish football fan Toke Møller Theilade (@TokeTheilade) and Russian football fan Andy Shenk (@AndyShenk).

U21 Euro 2015 qualifying is in full swing this fall, with Russia and Denmark the favorites to advance from Group 2*. Russia is 3-1-0, while Denmark comes in at 2-2-0. A Russian victory on Tuesday night sends them five points clear of the pack, qualifying already half complete, while a Danish victory in Moscow would establish them as group favorites.

Group 2 Fixtures and Results              Group 2 Table

To warm you up for the match, which is scheduled for 6:30 pm, October 15, at Khimki’s Rodina Stadium (just outside of Moscow), we analyze our country’s respective squads – their past history, expectations, head coach and the key players that are tipped to join the senior team in the future.

*The 10 group winners, as well as the top four 2nd-place teams advance to a two-leg playoff round, with the seven winners joining host Czech Republic at the tournament finals in June 2015.

DENMARK

Denmark's U21

1) How has Denmark’s U21 traditionally performed?

The Danish U21 have never won a big tournament. In 1992 they were in the semifinal of the EUROs, and this still stands as the best result. At the 2006 EUROs Denmark had a very promising squad, and the expectations were high. The Danish team consisted of numerous good players where a lot of them were already stars in their Danish clubs. But the team only got two points in their group with Italy, Netherlands and Ukraine, and stars like Daniel Agger and Nicklas Bendtner went on to the real national team. This team was unique because most of the squad was very experienced, and the players had been together for a long time. Since then have Denmark not been close to winning a major tournament.

2) How have Denmark played so far in this qualifying cycle?

Denmark is currently number two in the group with seven points after three matches. They started Euro 2015 qualification with a 1-0 away victory against Estonia. Then they played a friendly against Northern Ireland and won 4-1 in Belfast. In September, Denmark faced Andorra at home and Slovenia away, which ended in a total of four points after a 6-0 victory at home against Andorra and a 2-2 draw in Slovenia.

Slovenia had lost to both Russia and Estonia before they faced Denmark, and another victory was expected. Denmark got in front 1-0 after 30 minutes, but only eight minutes later Slovenia went ahead 2-1. Denmark equalized at the 66th minute, but even though they had some good chances they never got the winning goal.

In the game against Slovenia at home last Friday Denmark played to another 2-2 draw. Slovenia was in front 2-0 at halftime, but Højbjerg, more about him later, scored two great goals in the second half to tie things up. Not the result Denmark wanted or expected, but acceptable given the circumstances.

Bayern midfielder Pierre Højbjerg headlines Denmark's squad.

Bayern midfielder Pierre Højbjerg headlines Denmark’s squad.

3) Who are the top players to watch for and what club experience do they have? Who’s most likely to join the senior team?

Denmark has a very exciting team at the moment. A lot of the players have moved to big European clubs at a young age instead of staying in Denmark and get the breakthrough in the Danish Superliga. The current squad features Pierre-Emil Højbjerg from Bayern Munich, Andreas Christensen from Chelsea, Lasse Vigen from Fulham and Lucas Andersen from Ajax. Besides these four guys Denmark also have Jannik Vestergaard in Hoffenheim and Patrick Olsen in Inter, but Vestergaard is away with the senior National Team and Olsen not in the squad.

Both Højbjerg and Christensen often train with the A-teams at their clubs. Højbjerg got his first official appearance for Bayern last season, and Christensen played several preseason games for Chelsea this summer, but they still both need their final breakthrough. A player who already got his breakthrough is offensive midfielder Lucas Andersen from Ajax. He played 40 matches in the Danish Superliga before who moved to Ajax at the age of 17 last year. In January 2012 he was called up for the Denmark League XI national team for their matches at the King’s Cup in Asia. Just 17 years and four months, he is the youngest player ever to have been part of the team, which consists of the best Danish players from the Danish league.

Besides the players from the top European leagues, there are also some very interesting young players in the Danish league. Striker Nicolai Brock-Madsen from Randers FC has done great so far this season. Another interesting player is Rasmus Falk from Odense Boldklub. He got his debut for the National Team against Malta in September and is one of the key players for his club. He is a very promising young offensive midfielder who can play both on the wings, as a classic number 10, and behind the striker. Last, but not least, is goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow, who already has 55 games in the Danish league since his debut in March 2012.

4) Who is the Denmark coach – how did he get the job?

The coach of the Danish team is 43-year-old Jess Thorup. Between 1991 and 2005 he played 289 games in the Danish League and scored 68 goals as a striker. After his retirement he started as assistant coach at his old club Esbjerg fB. During his time as assistant coach he had the job of interim manager twice – in the 08/09 season for three games and in the 10/11 season for 12 matches – before he finally got the job in 2012 as permanent manager. When he took over in 2011 EfB was in the 2nd tier, and Thorup helped them secure the promotion to the top league. In their first season they ended fourth and won the Cup, which gave them a spot in the Europa League. After that impressive season, he got headhunted for the job as U21 national coach.

Thorup is a rising star in Danish coaching.

Thorup is a rising star in Danish coaching.

5) Are expectations high or low for this group? What is the media saying?

Being the coach of the national team in Denmark is always difficult, because the expectations don’t always meet the quality of the squad. The Danish people and media always expect the national teams to qualify for the big tournaments no matter who they face or have in the squad. With that said, the current squad should have the quality to finish before Bulgaria, Estonia, Andorra and Slovenia and fight Russia for first place in the group.

It is worth noticing that the Danish team is very young, and therefore it is not a catastrophe if they don’t qualify. Very few of the players are regular starters at their clubs. Even the “experienced” players in the squad lack regular playing time. Most of the exciting players were born between 1994 and 1996 and therefore still have some years before they get too old for the squad and it is probably among these players (Christensen, Vigen, Andersen, Højbjerg and Yurary) that we will find Denmark’s future stars.

RUSSIA

Russia U21

1) How has Russia’s U21 traditionally performed?

Russia is coming off its biggest success in recent years – a berth in Israel’s U21 Euro 2013. Before that squad’s breakthrough, the nation had gone 15 years without an appearance at the European Championships.

Russia was more successful in the 1990s, reaching the quarterfinals of the U21 World Cup in 1993 and 1995, as well as the U21 Euro quarterfinals in 1994 and 1998. But much like the senior team’s struggle to make an international impact over the last 20 years, those accomplishments were dwarfed by the Soviet youth sides, which won the U20 World Cup in 1977, U23 Euro in 1976 and U21 Euros in 1980 and 1990.

While not groundbreaking, advancing to Israel 2013 was an important step forward. The team helped to develop considerable talent – Aleksandr Kokorin (Dynamo), Oleg Shatov (Zenit), Denis Cheryshev (Sevilla), Ibragim Tsallagov (Krylia Sovetov), Pavel Yakovlev (Spartak), Georgi Schennikov (CSKA) – and gave Russian fans optimism that the aging national squad had a future. Unfortunately, the Euro 2013 tournament itself was a disappointment, as Russia slumped to three defeats, a -6 goal differential and 8th place overall.

2) How have Russia played so far in this qualifying cycle?

It’s been a successful campaign so far. A 3-0 win at Andorra kicked off the qualifying cycle in March, followed up by home wins over Slovenia (2-1) and Bulgaria (3-1). On Friday, Russia drew 3-3 with Bulgaria, in a match marred by defensive and goalkeeping mistakes.

But, despite 1st place in the group, and a perfect home record, it’s still early to say how good this team is. They had to come back in the second half against Slovenia, rescued by a late brace from Konstantin Bazelyuk. In the win over Bulgaria, their visitors played a man down for 72 minutes, but still scored a shock goal just before halftime to level the game at a goal apiece. Not surprisingly, it came on a set piece, the same way Bulgaria would score two of its goals in the 3-3 draw on Friday. After the next two matches, home to Denmark and away to Slovenia, we should have a better idea of what this team is made of.

CSKA striker Konstantin Bazelyuk is the man leading Russia's U21.

CSKA striker Konstantin Bazelyuk (right) is the man leading Russia’s U21.

3) Who are the top players to watch for and what club experience do they have? Who’s most likely to join the senior team?

The biggest names and promise appears to be up front. Russia has scored 11 goals in four outings, led by five goals from CSKA striker Konstantin Bazelyuk. The 20-year-old earned a place on CSKA’s senior team this September, helped by Seydou Doumbia’s absence due to injury, and settled in quickly, scoring the game-winner vs Rostov in his club debut. A lanky pure forward, many see a resemblance to Roman Pavlyuchenko. Like the former Russia and Spurs man, Bazelyuk has an uncanny ability to poach goals and confidence in the box.

Spartak youngsters Vladimir Obukhov and Aleksandr Kozlov are two more to keep an eye on. Playing as attacking midfielders on the U21 team, they’re leaders at Spartak’s reserve team, which plays in Russia’s third tier. Obukhov tops their division with seven goals, while Kozlov has six. In qualifying, Obukhov has three goals and an assist; Kozlov – one goal, one assist.

There’s talent elsewhere on the squad, but very few are getting regular playing time at the club level. Forward Pavel Solomatin is a starter at re-formatted Anzhi, captain and center back Aleksei Nikitin is a key player at FNL club Enisey and should get a chance at a bigger club soon. Defensive midfielder Roman Emelyanov signed with Shakhtar Donetsk at age 17, and is currently a regular with Ilyichevets, 7th in the Ukrainian league.

But the rest of the team, guys like Aleksei Miranchuk (Lokomotiv), Egor Baburin, Pavel Mogilevets, Ilya Zuev and Ivan Solovyev (Zenit) and Andrei Panyukov (Dynamo) are either buried deep on the bench or still playing in Russia’s youth league, which is much less competitive than even the third tier, where Obukhov and Kozlov play.

At this point, Bazelyuk seems the best candidate for promotion, but he’ll have to work hard to retain playing time at CSKA when Doumbia returns. Otherwise, Nikitin may be an option down the road at center back. And Spartak center back Sergei Bryzgalov, who has been injured since July, will almost certainly have a spot with the U21, as well as opportunities at Spartak, when he returns.

4) Who is the Russia coach – how did he get the job?

Nikolay Pisarev is officially in charge of all the Russian youth teams, splitting time as Russian Football Union sporting director and manager of the U21 team. He got the director job in spring 2010, then the U21 job that fall. Prior to that, he spent five years coaching Russia’s beach soccer team, leading them to several World Cups and bronze medals at the European championships. His success in building that team from the ground up (which has gone on to win two World Cups since) played a major role in him earning his current position. Russian youth football was in disarray before his arrival, and he has helped to at least bring some structure to the various national teams and development of Russian talent.

Pisarev’s best years as a player came at Spartak Moscow, where he won the Russian league in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2001, scoring 32 goals in 119 appearances. He made three appearances for the Russian national team, scoring once against the Faroe Islands in 1995.

Pisarev has little managerial experience, but is thriving as U21 coach.

Pisarev has little managerial experience, but is thriving as U21 coach.

5) Are expectations high or low for this group? What is the media saying?

The Russian media rarely pays much attention to the U21 squad, with this summer’s appearance at Euro 2013 the rare exception. Failure is expected sooner or later, and so the players have little pressure on them to make Euro 2015, given that only the most devoted Russian football fans could even name more than a couple of players on the squad. Bazelyuk is the only player with widespread recognition, and that only in the last month.

That said, there’s no reason this group can’t reach the Czech Republic two years from now. They’ll need to win their group and avoid the top 3-4 teams in the playoff round, of course, but it’s possible. The incentives are high for players in this cycle, as well, with the top six teams at Euro 2015 advancing to the 2016 Olympics.


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