P W D L F A Pts
BELGIUM 6 6 0 0 19 1 18
RUSSIA 6 5 0 1 18 4 15
KAZAKHSTAN 6 2 1 3 8 9 7
CYPRUS 6 2 1 3 11 6 7
SCOTLAND 6 2 0 4 5 13 6
SAN MARINO 6 0 0 6 0 28 0
Revelation
ILZAT AKHMETOV
Russia
Russia’s Young Player of The
Year for 2018, the CSKA Moscow
midfielder has settled in well
with the national team since
winning his first full cap in the
3-1 loss in Belgium.
The 21-year-old has a
complicated threefold brief for
both club and country: to win
the ball, control the tempo of
his side’s attacking game and
provide a steady stream of
through balls to the front runners.
At his best, he plays with thestyle and a swagger of a
playmaker and arguably is the
most technically gifted individual
in the Russian team, which
inevitably brings with it a huge
amount of responsibility.
But he was not always a
footballing “quarterback”. At
Rubin Kazan, who he quit for
CSKA on acrimonious terms in
2018, he normally lined up as an
attacking midfielder or on the
wing. CSKA boss Viktor
Goncharenko, however, opted to
place his quick feet and vision in
a more withdrawn context.
One of his most influential
mentors was ex-Rubin coach
Javi Gracia, who recently
was fired by Watford.energy, drive, precision passing and
buckets of joie de vivre. Seemingly
everywhere on the pitch, he marked the
occasion by setting up three goals before
adding the fourth with a sweetly struck
first-time shot. That only 25,000 fans
turned up to watch was a crying shame
as players of such class do not come
along too often.
Among the shower of plaudits that
were delivered to his door was the
observation that De Bruyne appeared to
be liberated by the unavailability through
injury of usual captain Eden Hazard. Andit’s a perfectly valid theory as, while the
pair have a good relationship personally
and professionally, no one can deny that
when Hazard is on the field for Belgium
he monopolises the ball.
Although De Bruyne does boast a fine
assist record as an international, with 32
in 72 games, the flame-haired magician
can, at times, take a strategic back-seat
to Hazard. If Belgium coach Roberto
Martinez could find a formula in which
both main men have equal attacking
input, the Diables Rouges would be even
more formidable than they are already.- 0 3 .19 Kazakhstan-Scotland 3-0
- 0 3 .19 Cyprus-San Marino 5-0
- 0 3 .19 Belgium-Russia 3-1
24.03.19 Kazakhstan-Russia 0-4
24.03.19 San Marino-Scotland 0-2
24.03.19 Cyprus-Belgium 0-2
08.06.19 Russia-San Marino 9-0
08.06.19 Scotland-Cyprus 2-1
08.06.19 Belgium-Kazakhstan 3-0
11.06.19 Kazakhstan-San Marino 4-0
11.06.19 Russia-Cyprus 1- 0
11.06.19 Belgium-Scotland 3-0
06.09.19 Cyprus-Kazakhstan 1-1
06.09.19 Scotland-Russia 1- 2
06.09.19 San Marino-Belgium 0-4
09.09.19 Scotland-Belgium 0-4
09.09.19 San Marino-Cyprus 0-4
09.09.19 Russia-Kazakhstan 1- 0
10 .10 .19 Kazakhstan-Cyprus
10 .10 .19 Russia-Scotland
10 .10 .19 Belgium-San Marino
13 .10 .19 Kazakhstan-Belgium
13 .10 .19 Scotland-San Marino
13 .10 .19 Cyprus-Russia
16 .11.19 Cyprus-Scotland
16 .11.19 San Marino-Kazakhstan
16 .11.19 Russia-Belgium
19 .11.19 Belgium-Cyprus
19 .11.19 San Marino-Russia
19 .11.19 Scotland-KazakhstanGROUP I
Responsibility...
AkhmetovLeader...De Bruyne