On Saturday night, Russia defeated Slovenia 2-1 in the first leg of their World Cup Playoff, in Russia. Russia had gone 2-0 up, thanks to a double from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, however Slovenia scored in the 88th minute with a goal from Nejc Pecnik, that has kept the Slovenians alive in the tie, especially with a crucial away goal. Sports retailers will certainly be hoping for a Russian victory, as they are likely to have one of the big selling World Cup shirts. Before we look at the two teams in more depth, let’s take a look at their qualifying performance in the group stage.
Slovenia’s home record in World Cup qualifying was very impressive and it is something Russia should be extremely wary of. Slovenia won 4 out of their 5 home games in Group 3, defeating Slovakia, Northern Ireland, San Marino and Poland, and drew the other game 0-0 with Czech Republic. Russia will also have to watch out for 30 year old striker Milivoje Nokakovic, who has scored 13 goals in 34 appearances.
On the other hand, those in a Russia World Cup shirt had a very good away record in qualifying Group 4, with 3 wins, 1 draw and a loss to Germany. They will be relying on their more experienced squad to get them through the game with a positive result on Wednesday night at Stadion Ljudski and with attacking options, such as Andrei Arshavin, Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Dmitri Sychev and Roman Pavyluchenko, I think this is what will see them qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa.
I do think Slovenia have the capability to scare and maybe even upset Russia and this should be a close run thing, but I see it being a draw, which will be enough for Russia to qualify.
Written by Kampanart Wong, a sports writer who blogs about cheap football kits.
