Group A is considered one of the most unattractive at the World Cup, even though some planetary stars will play in it - Mohamed Salah, Edison Cavani, Luis Suarez.
Can the host of the World Cup, the Russian team, make history and advance to the second stage for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union? Will Uruguay justify the role of the favorite, as much as the injured, or the newly recovered Salah with Egypt? Can Saudi Arabia at least get one win?
RUSSIA - "COMMAND ASSEMBLY" BETWEEN DREAM AND REALITY
For the first time in history, Russia will organize the World Cup, for the first time it did not have to pass the qualifications to play in the final.
For four full years, the "community command" had to prepare for the spectacle.
A chance to finally do something big? Hard, most fans of the biggest country in the world will say. Some even doubt that their selection will pass the group, in competition with Uruguay, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The pessimism that gripped pre-World Cup Russia was dominantly influenced by the results in the friendly matches of the team led by the former Soviet goalkeeper Stanislav Cherchesov (who took over the national team after Euro 2016, from the hands of the overpaid Fabio Capello).
Although they had mostly top-class sparring partners in the tests before the World Cup, smooth defeats against France, Spain, Argentina, last year at the Confederations Cup and against Portugal and Mexico showed the fans the harsh reality - the "team" is far from the world team top.
In fact, it never belonged to that top, because it sounds shocking that since the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has not played in the second phase of the World Cup. In France 1998, Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, she did not even participate, while in America 1994, Japan and Korea 2002 and Brazil 2014, she finished the competition after the group stage.
"Twenty years of suffering", that's how some European media in the World Cup brochures describe the history of independent Russia's performances at the World Championships.
Aleksandr Golovin from CSKA, Fyodor Smolov from Kransodar, Grof Bozović's favorite from Arsenal Artjom Dzyuba, legendary goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and other players, mostly from the domestic league, who were on Cherchesov's list will try to change that history.
Before the World Cup, the Russians experienced a change of generations, which could represent an additional problem, above all in defense, because the legendary Berezutski brothers said goodbye to the national team. Ignašević is on the list, although he will turn 14 on July 39...
Like any host, the Russians, however, are not without ambitions. If at the opening of the World Cup, on June 14 at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, they justify their role as favorites against Saudi Arabia, then who knows, maybe they will catch a glimpse of the second stage...
URUGUAY - HELLISH ATTACK AND DEFENSE BULLET "CELESTE"
Uruguay is one of the teams by which the World Cup is recognized - typical of the selection that was the first world champion, back in 1930.
They are led by one of the longest-serving coaches, the 71-year-old walking institution of Latin American football, Oscar Washington Tabares.
The popular El Maestro has been continuously at the helm of the national team since 2006 - he led the Urus at the World Cups in South Africa 2010 (4th place) and Brazil 2014, but also long before that, in his first term - at the World Cup in Italy in 1990
Tabares' greatest success was the title at the Copa America in Argentina in 2011. At that time, everyone expected Messi and his friends to celebrate, but the cup went to the other side of the Rio de la Plata.
"La seleste" (sky blue) arrives in Russia with one of the best attacking tandems - Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez are the fear and trembling of opposing defenses.
It should have been four years ago in Brazil. They were, actually, but only in the first stage, when they knocked down the English and the Italians... Their dream was shattered when Suarez bit the Italian Chiellini's neck in the last match of the first stage. Without their best player, they were easy prey for the Colombians in the round of XNUMX.
They arrive in Russia with the desire to take at least one step higher, and apart from the infernal attack, their trump card is a solid defense, led by Stefan Savić's teammates from Atletico Madrid, Diego Godin and Jose Maria Jimenez, winners of the Europa League.
The Serie A midfield, consisting of Inter Milan's Vesino, Juventus' Bentancourt and Sampdoria's Gaston Ramires, is tasked with balancing the team.
The Uruguayans are two-time world champions, and in a total of 12 world championships in which they participated, they reached the semi-finals four times.
They are currently the 17th team in the world in the Fifa ranking.
The World Cup in Russia opens with a duel with Egypt on June 15 in Yekaterinburg.
EGYPT - THE NATION'S EXPECTATIONS FALL ON SALAH'S SHOULDER
Egypt waited too long, the fans were looking for a step further compared to winning the Cup of African Nations, and then in the same year they received two jackpots - a place in the World Cup in Russia, but also a planetary star in the form of Mohamed Salah
It is remembered that people jumped out of wheelchairs when the "Pharaohs" in October, with a victory against DR Congo, qualified for the World Cup, the first since 1990.
And when it seemed that nothing could stop the fairy tale, a shock happened - Salah injured his shoulder in the last club game of the season, in the Champions League final.
"I will be ready for the World Cup," the Liverpool striker reassured the nation.
The doctors were a little more cautious:
"He will hardly play the first match, but he could help in the other two".
Be that as it may, the complete ambitions of the Egyptians at the first World Cup after 28 years fell on the shoulder of the wonderful Mohamed Salah, the striker who recently named an elementary school after him in Cairo.
If he can play, and if he plays at least as close as he did in Liverpool, the Egyptians can win their first World Cup ever! I can even reach the second stage.
Otherwise - everything changes...
In addition to the inevitable Salah, the most responsible for the return of the Egyptians to the world's biggest national team competition is the "loser coach" who finally had a reason to smile - Hector Cooper.
"All the time during the qualifiers, we were thinking about the next rival. That's how we will behave at the World Cup," said this Argentinian, former coach of Inter, Valencia...
Egypt's chances are certainly not small, at least for performances against three rivals in the group. Because Salah could have real help from Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny, Ramadan Sobi (Stoke)...
SAUDI ARABIA - IT IS IMPORTANT TO PARTICIPATE
There is only one outsider in Group A at the World Cup - the selection of Saudi Arabia.
In all analyzes before the World Cup, the popular "Green Falcons" are predicted to win maybe one or two points, which speaks volumes about their ambitions before coming to Russia.
"I don't know how they can get past the group," said Michael Skibe, coach of Greece, who were rivals Saudi Arabia in a friendly on May 15.
The fact that the Greeks lost that match is a curiosity - Saudi Arabia won 2:0, after which they suffered defeats against Italy (2:1) and Peru (3:0).
Saudi Arabia was the last to get a coach for the World Cup, after replacing two coaches during the qualifiers.
The Dutchman Bert van Marwijk did the biggest work in the qualifications, silver with "tulips" at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. He was later replaced by Edgardo Bausa from Argentina, but he only played five games.
Now there is another Argentinian - Juan Antonio Pizzi, former Barcelona forward, who won the Copa America with Chile in 2016.
"We lack international experience, and in some segments a certain quality. But we will welcome the World Cup ready," Pici pointed out.
Arabia played at the World Cup for the first time in 1994, when it reached the round of 1998 (eliminated by Sweden). Then she participated in 2002, 2006 and XNUMX and was eliminated in the group each time.
The biggest star is striker Mohamad Al-Salavi, the best scorer in the World Cup qualifiers - he scored 16 goals, as many as the Polish Robert Lewandowski.
Al-Salavi is 31 years old, the goalscorer of Al Nasra, and this season he even trained with the first team of Manchester United for three weeks.
Saudi Arabia has three players playing abroad, all three in Spain - one each for Levante, Villarreal and Leganes.
All the others wear the jerseys of the strongest clubs from Saudi Arabia - Al Hilal, Al Ahli, Al Nasr and Al Shabab.
"We made a big success, changed the history of Egyptian football and now we will enjoy it in a big competition," added Cooper, who also played with Egypt in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations last year.
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