#6278
[Second Issue of the Day]
#3
Soccer-World-Salenko dismisses Russia's chances at
finals
MOSCOW, May 29 (Reuters) - Former Russia striker Oleg Salenko has written off their hopes at the World Cup, blaming the state of the country's coaching system.
Salenko, who shot to fame at the 1994 World Cup in the United States where he ended the tournament as top scorer after a record five goals against Cameroon, told Sport-Express newspaper: "Russia's chances, even to qualify from their first-round group, are slight.
"But in my view, the problem lies not with the players, but rather with our coaches.
"They don't have a basic football knowledge and their behaviour is even worse. They only know how to insult players and keep them behind closed doors at training camps.
"If they ever had a chance to coach abroad, I don't think these so called 'football experts' would last very long," said Salenko, who played for Scottish club Rangers as well as stints with Valencia in Spain and Trabzonspor in Turkey.
Russia, who failed to qualify for the 1998 finals, begin their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on June 5, followed by matches against Belgium and co-hosts Japan.
Despite avoiding the heavyweight contenders in the opening phase, Salenko says the squad assembled by national coach Oleg Romantsev, who also coaches Spartak Moscow, has no chance of emulating the 1988 Soviet Union side who reached the final of the European Championships.
"Russia is not like the former Soviet Union when it comes to football," he added.
"The bottom line is that right now we have very average players and our coaches are mediocre, which in the end leads to an average result.
"Much will depend on how well the experienced players, like (Alexander) Mostovoi and (Valery) Karpin, will perform there."
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