Russia bows out of Euro 2012, gets in trouble with the UEFA
June 18, 2012
Following a disappointing loss to Greece, Russia is out of the running for the Euro 2012 competition. The Associated Press reports Greece scored the only goal of the game just before halftime, and Russia was unable to return the favor despite having taken 25 shots on the Greek goal compared to Greece's five attempts.
"We played quite well, we always tried to attack while the other team just defended," coach Dick Advocaat told The Voice of Russia. "We missed a goal at the end of the first game time. In the second part of the game we missed some moments, yes, but it would be unfair to say that the team played badly."
The game against Greece was Advocaat's final game coaching the Russian team, and Russian Football Union president Sergey Fursenko told RT.com the new coach would be announced by the end of June. The news source indicates local football specialist Valery Gazzaev, who has worked with the team in the past, is a frontrunner for the position. Those who want to find out more about the situation can make calls to Russia with international phone cards and get the latest updates from their friends.
While Russia may no longer be competing in Euro 2012, their enthusiastic fans have landed the team in a bit of hot water. According to New York Daily News, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) recently handed down a $38,000 fine to the Russian Football Union for the unruly behavior of its fans during last week's match against Poland. The UEFA stated Russian fans set off fireworks, made their way onto the field and displayed offensive banners at the game, according to the Daily News.
The Russian football association is not alone, as Poland was hit with fines for similar fan behavior at the game. However, Poland was only fined $5,000. This may be due to the fact that Russia was recently charged roughly $152,000 for unruly fan behavior at previous games. At the time, they were also threatened with automatically losing six points for the next Euro tournament if the actions were repeated. However, the UEFA has stated the recent fines will not affect the point standing.