Russia have been all the rage for their World Cup opener against South Korea on Tuesday and it is easy to see why.
There is still some 21/20 available about Fabio Capello’s side starting with three points and I am expecting the Italian to mastermind an opening victory.
Russia topped a qualifying group in Europe that also contained Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and they have a squad packed full of talent.
World Cups have been largely disappointing for the Russians, winning two of just six group matches played in the last 20 years at the finals, but they have nothing to fear form a clash with the limited Koreans and Capello will surely have learnt from previous mistakes.
England were lacklustre under Capello in South Africa four years ago but this set of international players are more in the style of the former Milan and Real Madrid chief and bring an enormous amount of experience, too.
It is ten matches unbeaten for Russia heading into Brazil 2014 but the same cannot be said of their upcoming opponents.
South Korea began a run of five defeats in seven matches when this pair met in November in Dubai, Tuesday’s favourites running out 2-1 winners, and they have conceded 13 goals in those reversals.
The latest defeat was a 4-0 thumping by Ghana in Miami last week and, while friendly results must always be taken with a pinch of salt, that was hardly ideal preparation.
Only two away wins were forthcoming in Asian qualifying, against UAE and Qatar, and manager Hong Myung-bo is heavily reliant on the goals of Arsenal’s Park Chu-Young.
The tournament so far has featured an abundance of goals and while this particular match might not follow the trend, it is one in which I expect Russia to prevail.
I’m looking forward to seeing Alan Dzagoev in action once more having impressed at Euro 2012 and the CSKA Moscow midfielder is part of a squad that features players exclusively playing at home domestically.
In fact, it could be fairly comfortable for Russia and they will know that getting off to the perfect start is essential with the talented Belgians to come on Sunday.
3pts Back Russia (vs. South Korea) @ 21/20 (Paddy Power)