Euro 2008 odds: Russia can gain confidence by beating Serbia in warm-up

Euro 2012 / Dan Fitch / 27 May 2008 / 1 Comments

Dan "The Betting Man" Fitch considers whether Guus Hiddink will still be on Roman Abramovich's payroll next year, but in West London as opposed to Moscow. More importantly, he thinks Russia will take momentum into Euro 2008 with a win against Serbia, screened on Betfair Live Video.

It must be strangely unsatisfying being Roman Abramovich. When you have so much money that you can buy anything, it can only be a matter of time before you get bored with what you've got and hanker after something new.

Hence why after she'd sired five heirs to the Abramovich fortune, his wife Irina was ditched for a younger model. But although I've no doubt Roman is enjoying himself with the 24 year old Daria Zhukova, he must have some nagging doubts as to whether she'd be interested in a man that looked like Father Dougal Maguire, if he wasn't a multi-billionaire.

Such insecurities will almost certainly lead to Daria being eventually ditched for an even more inappropriately aged plaything. The only overweight and middle aged woman to be given any space in the Abramovich household, will remain the one painted by Lucian Freud.

It doesn't seem as if Roman will ever be any more faithful to his managers at Chelsea, than he is to his women. There will always be someone out there that can offer something different to the incumbent coach and Abramovich has the money to satisfy such whims.

Amongst the favourites to become the new Chelsea manager is the current Russia coach Guus Hiddink, whose side face Serbia on Wednesday, in a match that can be seen on Betfair Live Video.

It can't be ideal preparation going into Euro 2008 and Hiddink's agent has denied that he would be interested in managing London's fourth best supported team. Despite such protestation, Hiddink's price remains short, proving that football agents are trusted by the general public about as much as they trust Russian oligarchs.

Personally, I think that Russia will retain the services of the coach that has steered them to the European Championships. Because Abramovich bankrolls Hiddink's wages, it is assumed that the next logical step is for the Dutchman to earn those wages at Stamford Bridge.

But Hiddink's role as Russian coach and the knowledge that it is Abramovich's money that has secured him, is a useful piece of PR. Abramovich was criticised for investing his money in English rather than Russian football and his role in the appointment of Hiddink somewhat makes up for this.

You can guess how popular Abramovich would be with the Russian people if he robbed them of their most successful manager for years and someone who spends as much time inanely grinning as Roman, must want to be liked.

Russia can be backed at [30] to win Euro 2008 and although this would be unlikely, they remain a fair bet at [2.34] to qualify from a group that includes Spain, Greece and Sweden.

Hiddink has taken both Holland and South Korea to World Cup semi finals and was unfortunate to be eliminated in the second round with Australia, in 2006. I'd back him to lead Russia to the knockout stages again, though they will then face a tricky quarter final clash with one of the teams from Group 'of death' C.

Russia warmed up on Friday with a 6-0 win over a Kazakhstan side still trying to overcome the national identity crisis caused by the Borat movie. This wasn't much of a test for a Russian side that were able to win at a canter despite making six substitutions. Particularly impressive and on the score sheet, was the tall Zenit St Petersburg striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was the top scorer in the UEFA Cup with 10 goals.

Serbia came very close to close to beating the Rebublic of Ireland, before a last minute goal by Andy Keogh pulled it back to 1-1. The substitute Marko Pantelic had barely been introduced when he gave Serbia a 75th minute lead, but the draw was just about a fair result, in a match where it was clear that neither side had little to play for.

The Russian team will be playing for their Euro 2008 places on Wednesday and I think that the [2.14] is excellent value for the home side, with Serbia [3.5] and the draw [3.3]. The last home game that Russia lost was to Brazil in 2006 and Serbia lack the motivation to repeat this feat.

Comments (1)

1. Euro 2008 Betting Expert | 30 May 2008

   It will be interesting to see how Abramovich fairs up with his home team, can't be easy not being able to pay for the best players. Think Russia may struggle in this stage,they are usually only deemed good on home soil, Spain are by far the best team and are looking good to win this group.