Russia

FOOTBALL IN RUSSIA As the country’s condition began to decay in the ‘70s and ‘80s their performances slipped too.Bythe ‘80s – apart from a rally in 1988 when they lost in a memorable European Championship final to aDutch team led by theACMilan trio of Rijkaard, Gullit, and Van Basten – they were getting knocked out in the second round, and by the ‘90s the Russian teamswere failing to make it past round one. Decay at home; weakness abroad. But as things strengthen in Russia today the prospects begin to brighten. Though without the talents of the Ukrainians and other former Soviet Republics any more, the Russians are starting to showsome signs of strength. In their qualifying group the team managed by Oleg Romantsev and built around Spartak Moscow, the club side he also manages, came out top, losing just one game, drawing two and winning seven. Key players such as Spartak striker Vladimir Beshastnykh, Spartak captain and play-maker Egor Titov, Celto Vigo’s attacking midfielder Alexandre Mostovoi and Real Oviedo’s defender Viktor Onopko are starting to bring together the qualities of the great Soviet teams – flair and strength combined with discipline. Though they are some way still from getting there (something similar applies to the country and economy – improvement but someways off “singing”), the increasingly international education they are getting from playing their club football withWest European teams or competing for Spartak in the Champions’ League, plus the better salaries they are now earning as the Russian clubs have more to spend, are leading to improvements. They really need to win group H (Russia, Japan, Belgium and Tunisia) if they are to progress beyond the second round as the runners-up will likely face Brazil, assuming the Latin giants win group C. Russia’s (or the Soviet team’s) record against the green and golds in the World Cup is a poor. Getting into the quarterfinalswould be something of an upset then; a fairer bet is that they make it into the second round. STATE OF THE ECONOMY Such a performance would be a fair reflection of the state of the country – improving but a goodways from being in full bloom yet. For anyonewhomissed it, the improvement has been remarkable and rapid. Annual real GDP growth averaged some 7% for the three years 1999-2001, the government ran big fiscal surpluses and built fx reserves up by $25 billion making another default a very remote possibility. STATE OF THE NATION In the end then, while the default of August 1998 seemed to mark the terminal decline, with the benefit of hindsight it seems like the crash was a cathartic one, instead marking the end of the troubled systemic interregnum between communism and capitalism that was the 1990s and the beginnings of the true transformation into being a friendly, open, market-based economy and society. It is far from there yet – GDP per capita is only $2,000, for example – but it is on the way. The Russians are coming! The World Cup and Economics 36 World Cup 2002 THE 2002 WORLD CUP Russia – or the Soviet Union, the empire state it morphed out of – has long seen its football success reflecting its economic and political status. The Soviet team was a real power just at the time that the nation was one of the world’s two undisputed Super Powers. In 1958-1970 they reached the quarterfinals of theWorld Cup on three occasions and the semis in the other (they finished fourth in 1966 in England). They also won the European Championships in 1960 and finished runner-up a number of times. Previous Appearances: 8 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 Honours Semifinalists: 1966 (4th)