Russia's thousand days without football: how Karpin's national team is living in isolation
Modric was one of the last witnesses to see a Russia match. It was in Split, in a qualifier for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Group H was led by the Croats with all wins except a 2-2 draw against Slovakia. Russia were second with all wins except that match in Split, although they would have to play Poland in the semi-finals and if they won against the winner of the Sweden-Czech Republic match, which the Swedes went on to win. It all ended with Poland playing in the World Cup in Qatar and Russia being banned from FIFA and UEFA competitions after the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Veteran striker Artem Dzyuba was the top scorer with three goals in a team that was boosted by the arrival of Valery Karpin in July 2021. A position he would combine with that of FC Rostov coach until 2028 after the Russian Federation renewed his contract in June 2024.
Almost a thousand days after that cold November night in 2021, Russia have not played another official match, nor do they look set to do so in the coming months or, who knows, years. They have played 15 friendly matches, with eight wins, six draws and a painful defeat to Egypt U-23s, days after a one-goal draw with the same team.
There was no sign of Russia at the World Cup in Qatar, although they would have been a welcome guest, playing a friendly match against Russia in September 2023 to a 1-1 draw. They were also absent from the European Championship in Germany, where they did not play in the qualifiers for a tournament they would almost certainly have been invited to due to their quality, but also because UEFA extended the quota to 24 teams to make room for less common teams such as Georgia, Albania, Slovakia and Ukraine itself.
The months are passing for the Russian team thanks to friendly matches against close and friendly countries. Vladimir Putin's political environment has lifted the trenches even further and forced his national football team to face much less demanding opponents than if it had remained on the international stage without sanctions. Russia has been able to play both home and away matches, the first after the international sanction was away to Kyrgyzstan (1-2) at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in front of 15,000 spectators, followed by a goalless draw against Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In March 2023 they played Iran (1-1) and beat Iraq 2-0 at the Gazprom Arena in front of 23,000 spectators. Their particular competition stopped until September's friendlies against Egypt U-23 and closed with a 1-1 draw with Qatar. In October 2023 they beat Cameroon at the VTB-Arena in Moscow 1-0 and drew 2-2 with Kenya at the stadium of Turkish team Antalyaspor. Russia's last friendly match was an 8-0 thrashing of Cuba in front of 40,000 spectators at the Volgograd Arena. Their last two matches in 2024 have ended in a 4-0 thrashing of Serbia and Belarus in front of more than 20,000 spectators per game.
As for the players of the Russian national team, the veto on this nationality is beginning to disappear in Europe or there are clubs that want nothing to do with the alleged sanctions against those who do business with companies or teams close to the Kremlin. Goalkeeper Matvey Safonov plays for PSG; Daler Kuzyaev for French team Le Havre; Aleksey Miranchuk is a Europa League champion with Atalanta or Arsen Zakharyan, for whom Real Sociedad paid 13 million euros to Dynamo Moscow. Although the most complicated case is that of Denís Chéryshev who, at 33, is without a team after leaving Valencia in August 2022 for Serie B side Venezia, where he has barely played 170 minutes between league and cup.
The Russian competition continues, even if its teams cannot play in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League. Last season's champions were Zenit, with Krasnodar second, one point behind, Dinamo Moscow third and Lokomotiv fourth. There are also classics of European football coaching Russian teams such as Dejan Stankovic at Spartak Moscow, the aforementioned Karpin at Rostov or the Canary Islander David Deogracia at Orenburg or the former Spanish national team coach Robert Moreno at Sochi, who have been relegated to the Russian second division.
Such is life in Russian football while international sanctions remain in place due to the invasion of Ukraine. Their teams have kept the competition going and are able to pay salaries to players and coaching staff. The stadiums are packed to watch these matches or their national team. The Russian football bubble.