RF Football » Roman Pavlyuchenko

UEFA World Cup Qualifying – Group 4 Wrap Up

Richard Farley — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:56:48 +0000

This is a series of nine, short posts that will be synthesized into one article for World Soccer Reader.

Team	GP	Pts
Germany	7	19
Russia	7	18
Finland	7	13

Group 4

I’ve included Finland in the table not because they are a threat to Russia or Germany but to show how top-heavy the group is. Finland’s 13 points in seven matches is a perfectly respectable total that would have them in the middle of the playoff spot’s race if they weren’t in this group. Unfortunately for them, two of the top six nations in the world are in this group, and the only drama remaining is who will qualify automatically for South Africa.

Provided Germany and Russia hold serve from here on out, that will be decided October 10 in Moscow. Germany did no play this weekend, but Russia did their part with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Liechtenstein. Roman Pavlyuchenko had a brace from the spot as Russia, playing without three of their best players, won comfortably.

Russia also experimented with a three man back line, owing to star defenders Yuri Zhirkov and Denis Kolodin being out with injuries. As neither are expected to return on Wednesday, we may see a similar formation in Cardiff against Wales.

Russia Football Now Podcast, Episode #2

Richard Farley — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:38:37 +0000

The second episode of Russia Football Now Podcast has been distributed at the site. Topics this week include the rumors surrounding Luciano Spalletti to Zenit, redressing the Roman Pavlyuchenko saga, review of the last round of league action, and preview of what’s in store for the national team during this round of qualifying.

It’s all available on RFN, via iTunes, or below:

[podcast]http://pointoneohradio.com/pods/rfn_episode02_20090904.mp3[/podcast]

RFN: Lokomotiv Wins, Pavlyuchenko Closer to Zenit

Richard Farley — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:50:45 +0000

Here are the new articles on Russian Football Now to which I have contributed: