In front of tens of thousands of Russian fans who had travelled to Manchester for the game, Zenit were clearly the better side. But, although dominating the early exchanges, Zenit were unable to pierce Rangers’ well organised defence – the bedrock of their UEFA Cup campaign so far – during the first half.

But on 72 minutes, a wonderful goal from Igor Denisov, who burst through the Rangers defence, turned the final decisively in Zenit’s favour.

Rangers tried to push for the extra goal, but all of their desperate attacks were repulsed by Zenit and even a Rangers penalty claim was turned down by the referee.

Konstantin Zyrinaov sealed victory, and the title, for Zenit wth a cool side-foot into the net four minutes into stoppage time.

Russia is, as you would imagine, ecstatic – the victory was important enough that Prime Minister Putin called manager Dick Advocaat after the match to congratulate him. (No word, though, of whether new President Dmitry Medvedev, who is apparently a Zenit supporter, made a congratulatory call).

Victory in the UEFA Cup will be a wonderful boost for football in Russia, and for St Petersburg in particular. They’ll be especially pleased that CSKA Moscow, who won this tournament back in 2005 can no longer lord it over them.  Although they will worry slightly that victory will attract the attention of Europe’s biggest clubs, who will be keen to poach Zenit’s best players, and their world renowned coach Dick Advocaat.

The only downside to the match was the news that one Russian fan was stabbed by Rangers fans during the match. He’s reported to be in stable condition, and out of danger, but this can only heighten tension ahead of the Champions League FInal in Moscow next week. Two English teams will be playing in Moscow, but there will be a segment of Russian fans who want revenge, and who may not make the distinction between English and Scottish fans.

Zenit St Petersburg, UEFA Cup Champions is a post from: Siberian Light

Although each team still has one game to play, Georgia have now pulled two points clear of Russia. Georgia’s stronger record in head to head matches between the two teams ensures that they will be crowned European Nations Cup champions for 2008.

A match report and video highlights of the game are below.

Bruising encounter

On a snow covered Krasnoyarsk pitch, the Georgian Lelos roared into an early lead.

Otar Barkalaia was rather fortunate to score under the posts after just 7 minutes but, after converting his own try and following up with a penalty on the 20 minute mark he had almost single-handedly given Georgia a 10-0 lead.

Russia, as seems traditional, ground their way back into the game with four penalties from the boot of Yuri Kushnariov. His fourth kick after 68 minutes brought Russia back to within a point of the Lelos. With the momentum and in front of their passionate home crowd, it would have been hard to bet against the Bears at this point.

But David Katcharava had other ideas. Picking up a quick pass from Lasha Malaghuradze, the winger flew past the Russian defence from 15 yards out to score the winning points.

Russia, roared on by their home crowd, threw everything at Georgia in the last few minutes, but despite battering the Georgian try line, they were unable to quite push their way over.

By all accounts, the match was an ill-tempered one. Two massive brawls scarred the game. A free for all late in the second half led to both number 6s being sin-binned. (Although, according to the Georgian Rugby Union reporter, both players then sat side by side in the sin bin, wrapped in blankets and chatting amiably). And, Georgia’s winning try led to a second brawl and a trip to the sin bin for Georgian prop Goderdzi Shvelidze.

For your voyeuristic entertainment, here’s the first brawl in all its glory:

Looking forward

Regardless of the result, the match has provided a tremendous boost for Russian rugby. The match itself was covered live on NTV-Sports, and will have introduced the game to many new fans.

And, after a strong Nations Cup campaign which has seen the Bears rise to 16th in the world rankings, Russia will be looking forward to a series of further high profile matches over the summer.

IRB Nations Cup, June

Most importantly, Russia will be playing in the IRB Nations Cup tournament in Romania this June. The annual tournament was set up in 2006 to give tier 2 nations the opportunity to test themselves against a higher level of competition than they would normally meet in regional competition.

Russia avoided Georgia in the group draw, and will open the tournaments with matches against Italy A, Romania and Uraguay. Georgia, on the other hand, face the much tougher proposition of matches against Uraguay, the Emerging Springboks (South Africa B) and Italy B.

The top 4 teams from the group stages will progress to the Semi-Finals and, from the fixture list, it looks as though Russia have a pretty good shot.

IRB Sevens tournaments

Russia have also had a fairly good season in Sevens, the lighter form of the game. They won the Bowl tournament in the Hong Kong Sevens a few weeks ago, coming from behind to beat Zimbabwe 19-14.

They’ll be looking to build on this success in the upcoming tournaments in Scotland (where, incidentally, Moldova will be playing for the first time) and England.

Georgia edge past Russia in title thriller is a post from: Siberian Light

The win, secured only with two last-gasp penalties, sets up an thrilling winner takes all fight for the title next month, as Russia host old rivals Georgia.

Romania, traditionally a European rugby powerhouse, were never going to be an easy opponent. Lying third in the table, they trailed Russia and Georgia by just one point at the beginning of the match.

But, in front of 3,000 screaming fans at Krasnodar’s Stadium Junost, Russia kept their nerve and came from behind to edge past a determined and well drilled Romanian team.

Last gasp victory

After taking almost the entire game to grind out a 6-3 lead, Russia looked well placed to run down the clock and secure victory. But the Romanian players clearly hadn’t read the script.

With just 12 minutes left to play, a magnificent drive by Romania’s forwards put replacement Valentin Ursache in position to score from a maul. The conversion was missed but the try was enough to take Romania into a narrow 8-6 lead.

Suddenly finding themselves behind, and with the game almost over, the Russians finally kicked into high gear. Romania managed to resist Russia’s relentless attacking play for 8 more minutes, but two penalties in the last four minutes from Yuriy Kushnarev, Russia’s fly-half, gave Russia a last gasp victory.

Russia vs Georgia – winner takes all title fight

Russia now find themselves top of the European Nations Cup table, three points clear of old rivals Georgia.

Georgia have a game in hand and if, as expected, they beat Spain, the Lelos will go back to the top of the table on points difference to set up a thrilling climax to the European Nations Cup tournament on 12 April.

Russia, who lost 31-13 to Georgia in Tblisi last year will be the slight underdogs. Although Russia have risen to 16th in the world rankings – their highest ever – they are still two places behind the experienced Georgians. And Georgia, as some regular commenters will recall, came within a whisker of dumping Ireland out of this summer’s Rugby World Cup.

But with three consecutive wins under their belt, and thousands of home fans behind them, I wouldn’t bet against the Russian Bears winning their first major title.

Check back in a few weeks for a full match report…

(Image Credit: Russian Rugby Union).

Rugby: Russia beat Romania to go top of table is a post from: Siberian Light

After all, England were playing at Wembley, their newly refurbished spiritual home, and they only needed to a draw to secure qualification for Euro 2008.

Shame Croatia didn’t read the script. They stomped all over a woeful England on their home turf, winning 3-2 and condemning Steve McLaren’s men to a summer of watching footie on the telly, and McLaren himself to a summer of soul-searching and job hunting.

I’d like to praise the inspired way that Russia won their last game in Andorra (a must win game for Russia at the time). Sadly though, the mighty Russian team didn’t really turn up last night either, only managing to scrape a 1-0 win against Andorra, the group’s whipping boys.

Russia, it has to be said, booked their place in the finals pretty much by default. On last night’s performances, neither England nor Russia deserved a spot in the finals. And a team that can only scrape past Andorra doesn’t really deserve to be in the finals – certainly not when there are quality teams like – um – Israel out there, who were unbeaten in their qualifying matches against Russia.

Kudos to Andorra, though, 0-1 was by far their best result of the tournament.

Can you tell I’m an Englishman, by the way? And that I’m a little bit bitter?

Still, I can’t complain too much. While my compatriots are morosely watching the England-less Euro 2008 finals, I’ll at least be able to support my second team!

Go Russia!

Russia through to Euro 2008 after England hopes crushed by Croatia is a post from: Siberian Light

Israel beat Russia 2-1 on Saturday, a result which leaves Russia’s hopes of qualifying for football’s Euro 2008 hanging by a slender thread and proves comprehensively that Israel are the most honest team in European football.

Russia had gone into the game with high hopes of sealing qualification, thanks to a stunning 2-1 home victory over rivals England last month, but defeat this weekend means that Russia can only pray that Engand lose their final match against Croatia on Wednesday.

The result proved a shock to many pundits, especially those anti-Russian doom-mongers in the British sporting press who had spent the past few weeks merrily circulating rumours that the Israel team had suspiciously close ties to Russia, and were bound to throw the game. Implied, but never quite claimed outright, was that Russian would bribe the Israel team to ensure the right result.

However, as the London Times was quite happy to acknowledge yesterday, the rumour mill actually proved an inspiration to Israel, prompting the Times to dole out some patronising praise and to cheekily claim some of the credit for Israel’s victory:

It was an inconsistent performance from an inexperienced Israel team – the same could be said of Russia – but it was commendable how the home side fought to the end. They were spurred, undoubtedly, by the speculation in the English media that they would roll over; by the talk that they were far too chummy with Russia. Glad to be of assistance, Steve.

I particularly liked the way that corruption allegations have been rephrased as “talk that they were far too chummy with Russia.” But, who was doing the talking? Would you ever guess from the above report that it was the Times themselves who reported the claims Israel would throw the Russia game?

However, so keen were Israel to prove their innocence, they not only went on to win the game, but have refused some massive prizes, including a Mercedes car offered to goalscorer Omer Golan promised by an internet betting site. The Telegraph reports:

“A Mercedes would be nice, a present for my dad,” he said. The Israeli Football Association, however, stated that Golan would not be able to accept the gift because it was deemed to be “beyond the bounds of sportsmanship”.

“Only the Israel FA can give incentives to the players. Certainly they cannot be given by any interested third party and obviously this applies when the offer comes from a fan of a team which has a direct interest in the result,” they said in a statement.

To give you an idea of the relative value of the Mercedes to Golan: his salary is approximately $200,000 per year – the car is worth $100,000.

Totally un-corrupt Israel crush Russia is a post from: Siberian Light

Following England’s announcement that it will definitely bid to host the 2018 football World Cup, rumours are flying that England’s World Cup bid could be subject to a deal with Russia.

Russia are also thought to be considering a bid for the World Cup in 2018 and, while the consensus is that England would probably put together the stronger bid, the English Football Association fear that the Russian bid could take away valuable votes from England, handing the world cup to the US or China instead.

So what better way around this problem than for the two nations to forge a gentlemans agreement? If Russia withdraws from the 2018 World Cup race, then England would support a Russian bid to host the 2016 European Championship.

From the perspective of both Russia and England, this deal seems like a great idea. England get the clear run they need at the World Cup, and Russia, which realistically would have trouble coping with the logistical demands of the World Cup at the moment, gets to host a tournament in which to showcase its rapidly improving infrastructure and which could prove a valuable stepping stone to a future World Cup bid, perhaps in 2026.

Of course, the English FA are flatly denying that they are considering a deal with Russia – an FA spokesman told the Sun:

“We reject any suggestion there is a pact.”

And Russia would be advised to tread with care anyway when doing deals with the English – if they look back through their history books they’ll discover that the not always honourable English FA made a gentlemans agreement to support a German World Cup bid in 2006, following German support for the English Euro 96 bid. England, of course, reneged on the deal, offering their support elsewhere at the last minute.

The Germans had the last laugh though, as they won the right to host the 2006 World Cup without English support, so perhaps the Russians should instead see the prospect of a broken gentlemens agreement with England as a good omen…

England World Cup bid deal with Russia? is a post from: Siberian Light

If the wooly – and completely unsourced – theories in the article are to be believed, someone Russian (possibly someone related to the team, possibly someone related to Roman Abramovich) is going to bribe the Israeli team to throw the game.

Wednesday was a bad night for England but a good one for conspiracy theorists. After Moscow’s plastic surface, will Tel Aviv’s Ramat Gan Stadium prove English football’s grassy knoll, their qualification hopes shot to bits amid mysterious circumstances? Russia visit Israel on November 17 and victory for Guus Hiddink’s side would all but seal their place at Euro 2008, at England’s expense.

The article is based almost entirely on rumours – none of which are actually attributed to someone. Ominously, the central theme of their article seems to be that Roman Abramovich is Jewish, has ties to Israel – he funds a $4 million tournament there every year and, last month he unexpectedly hired a previously little known Israeli to coach his multi-million pound team at Chelsea.

The only actual quotes in the article come from Israeli football officials, keen to quash these mysterious rumours.

I’m sure there are rumours floating about, but I’m amazed that Russia’s PR over recent months has become so bad that even a (supposedly) reputable newspaper such as the Times feels it is appropriate to print them uncritically. Whatever jobs Putin takes on over the next few months, few will be as challenging as the massive PR job needed to salvage Russia’s reputation.

Russia to bribe Israel in their upcoming football match is a post from: Siberian Light

England went ahead courtesy of an early Wayne Rooney goal and, with just over twenty minutes to play, had looked to be in control of the game and well on their way to the European Championships.  But, in an inspired move, coach Gus Hiddink brought Roman Pavluchenko onto the pitch – he went on to score both of Russia’s goals.

The result leaves Russia in control of their destiny – they need only to win their next two games against Israel and the not very mighty Andorra.  England, on the other hand, can only realistically qualify if they win their last match and Russia slip up.

England coach Steve McLaren has refused to blame England’s defeat on Russia’s decision to cover the pitch with artificial turf.  Instead, he went down the time honoured route of blaming the referee instead:

“The pitch had nothing to do with it,” he said. “It was lively. They had more preparation, but I’m not making that an excuse.”

“…I’ve just seen the penalty again. It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s outside the box. The linesman didn’t give it. It was the referee [who awarded the penalty] from quite some distance [away]. Things like that turn games.” 

The BBC on the other hand, have no doubts. Engand’s defeat can be blamed on Russian gamesmanship:

McClaren will have been peturbed to see the synthetic surface being heavily watered before kick-off, a move clearly designed to make conditions more favourable for Hiddink’s side.

It’s days like this that I try to forget I’m an Englishman.

Football: Inspired Russia come from behind to beat England 2-1 is a post from: Siberian Light

The winner got to take home a cool 50,000 roubles. Which buys an awful lot of high heeled shoes…

High heeled sprint in St Petersburg is a post from: Siberian Light

And now, you can see the speech in its entirety (plus some dodgy introductory music), courtesy of Russia Today:

I have to say, I was very impressed by the way in which Putin delivered his speech in English.

Although Putin is known for his excellent language skills, as far as I know, he’s never given a speech in English before on the world stage. On the evidence of this speech, he should use English more when speaking to the press. It would do the power of good to Russia’s international image.

Video of Putin's Olympic speech in English is a post from: Siberian Light