Group 10 / Focus on Russia: Mary Hannigan details the recent problems in Russian football and the national gloom they have induced.

If it's been a lively old time in Irish football since the squad set sail for Saipan 18 months ago, it's been no less eventful over in Russia, where since then the national side had so poor a World Cup that some of the players received death threats; a brief renaissance (in the form of wins in their opening two European qualifying games) was followed by another slump (three defeats and a draw in their last four games) - not to mention three coaches and a dizzying number of changes in playing personnel.

Morale, then, should hover barely above ground level, hardly boosted by Russian Football Federation president Viatcheslav Koloskov's description of the today's squad as a "shambles".

"Unfortunately they are the best we have," he said, inserting the boot a little deeper. "We still have three matches to play, but right now we don't have a team. It's a bad time for Russian football."

A good time to play them, then? Perhaps, but that will all depend on how the Russian players respond to their new coach, Georgi Yartsev, who will be in charge for the first time today. If their response is similar to the one given to Brian Kerr by his players when he replaced Mick McCarthy, then the "good time to play them" theory will look hollow. They say even the tiniest of wounded animals is dangerous - Russian newspaper SovSport describes this team as a "wounded bear". Beware.

The players, at least, seem up for it. "This is a fight for the prestige of Russian football," said Yevgeny Aldonin of today's game and the team's attempts to qualify for Portugal next summer, having missed out on Euro 2000.

"Without doubt we should beat Ireland," said Alexei Smertin, the player recently signed by Chelsea and subsequently loaned to Portsmouth, "and then we will put some pride back into Russian football".

"We're fairly confident about the game but we know Ireland will be a lot stronger than they were in Moscow," added veteran central defender Viktor Onopko in Dublin yesterday. "Our results away from home haven't been great but we know we have the ability to do well here. Of course it would be nice to win, but we'd be happy with a point."

The wounded bear was dismissed as "the team from the Jurassic age" by Russian newspaper Sport Express after defeats by Japan and Belgium saw them fail to qualify for the second phase of the World Cup. "Oleg Romantsev proved once again that his caveman image and outdated ideas just don't stand up in the international arena," it said. Romantsev duly resigned and was replaced by Valeri Gazzaev.

Gazzaev's reign began promisingly, Russia taking six points out of six from their games against Ireland and Albania at the start of this qualifying campaign - but one point from the next three Group 10 fixtures reduced his level of popularity to that of his predecessor. The final straw came last month in Moscow when Russia lost 2-1 in a friendly to Israel. "Shameful and disgusting," he said of the performance. With that Gazzaev, only a year in the job, resigned, just three weeks before today's critical game.

Enter Georgi Yartsev, a 55-year-old former Soviet Union international, who had been out of work since 2000 after spells at Spartak Moscow (whom he led to the league title in 1996) and Dynamo Moscow and Rotor Volgograd, both of whom sacked him. "It will not be an easy task," he said, "but Russia will curse us if we are unable to solve the task."

No pressure then.

In naming his squad for the game Yartsev adopted a "back to the future" policy, recalling eight players discarded by Gazzaev, including midfielders Valery Yesipov (who won his last cap nine years ago) and Vladislav Radimov (who's been overlooked for the past five years).

The most notable recalls, though, were for two of Russia's foreign-based players, Celta de Vigo captain Alexander Mostovoi and FC Porto's Dmitri Alenichev, while Onopko was reinstalled as captain. "They have not yet exhausted their potential," said Yartsev of the trio who largely carried the can for the World Cup disappointment.

If proof was needed that Yartsev has doubts about Russia's younger crop of internationals he also tried to tempt 34-year-old midfielder Valeri Karpin (Real Sociedad) back to the fold. "I told him I'm too old to play for Russia," said Karpin. "We had a friendly talk and Yartsev said he would like to see me in the team again, but I politely declined the invitation." Hardly a vote of confidence in Russia's new breed, then, but if Yartsev's faith in Onopko, Alenichev, Mostovoi and company is repaid today he will defy his gloomy doubters at home. In a quirky survey of Russian poets, composers, actors and musicians ahead of the game SovSport found little optimism.

"Ireland will win. Why? Because our football is ignorant," said composer Alexander Marshal. "I hope that my prediction will not happen and the Russian team will play football like it did a long time ago, but I don't think so." The multi-talented Trofim, composer, poet, musician and author? "I am a romantic, therefore I hope for a crushing victory for our team. But forget the romance - I think Russia will lose 2-0." At which point the wounded bear would limp all the way home to Moscow. We'll see.

Russia's foreign-based players: Alexander Mostovoi (Celta Vigo): He's so popular at his Spanish club, where he is captain, the supporters raised money to build a monument in his honour. Moved from Spartak Moscow to Benfica and on to Cannes and Strasbourg before settling at Celta Vigo. Regarded as Russia's most gifted playmaker, he was dropped after a poor World Cup but recalled, at the age of 35, by Yartsev.

Dmitri Sytchev (Olympic Marseille): The 19-year-old striker was regarded as the golden-haired boy of Russian football before the last World Cup but dirtied his bib when he walked out on Spartak Moscow, for which he received a four-month ban. Has since joined Olympic Marseille and is back in favour in the national side, forming a promising partnership with Alexander Kerzhakov.

Alexei Smertin (on loan to Portsmouth from Chelsea): The 28-year-old former Russian player of the year, who can play in midfield or defence, joined Bordeaux from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2000 and enjoyed a successful three years. He was all set to return home last month, to Torpedo Moscow, when Chelsea signed him for £3.45 million, described him as an "investment for the future" and promptly loaned him out, for the season, to Portsmouth.

Dmitri Alenichev (Porto): The 30-year-old midfielder, who had spells with Roma and Perugia in Italy before moving to Portugal, was another of the players dropped from the squad after the World Cup but returns to offer Yartsev midfield options, both in the centre and on the left.