Russia v Austria background
Monday, June 1, 2015
Article summary
Russia have some catching up to do as they take on unbeaten Austria in Group G, with Fabio Capello's side outside the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying places after five games.
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Still unbeaten in Group G in the European Qualifiers, Austria can take a significant stride towards UEFA EURO 2016 with an away victory against Russia.
Previous meetings
• Rubin Okotie's 73rd-minute goal in Vienna secured a 1-0 win for Austria back in November in these sides' first Group G meeting. It was Austria's only win against Russia in three games since the end of the Soviet Union (W1 D1 L1).
• Their first encounter in Klagenfurt on 17 August 1994 ended in a 3-0 success for Russia, Vladimir Beschastnykh (43), Yuri Nikiforov (53) and Igor Simutenkov (83) all on target. Beschastnykh's and Nikiforov's goals were their first for their country.
• The teams drew 0-0 in Graz on 25 May 2004, though injuries to key players forced Russia coach Georgi Yartsev to field an experimental side. Aleksei Bugaev and Aleksandr Anyukov made their debuts.
• Austria and the Soviet Union met six times, with the Austrians' record reading: W1 D1 L4 (W1 D1 L0 at home, W0 D0 L3 in the Soviet Union). Notable meetings included a 2-0 win for the USSR at the 1958 FIFA World Cup finals in Sweden, Anatoli Ilyin (15) and Valentin Ivanov (63) the scorers in Boras.
• The nations also met in the qualifying group stage for the 1968 UEFA European Championship. Eduard Streltsov (80) scored the vital goal in a 4-3 triumph for the USSR in Moscow on 11 June 1967, but Leopold Grausam's goal settled the return fixture, a 1-0 win for Austria on 15 October 1967.
Form guide
• Russia are unbeaten in 11 competitive home qualifiers since a 1-0 loss to Slovakia in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying, on 7 September 2010.
• Austria remain unbeaten in Group G (W4 D1); they have won their last three competitive away games in all competitions.
Trivia and links
• Austria and Russia have met in five UEFA age-group competition matches, with Austria's record W3 D2 L0.
• There is nothing to separate the nations' clubs in their UEFA competition encounters, the 38 contests between the countries ending with 13 wins apiece and 12 draws. Most recently, FC Zenit drew 0-0 at home and lost 4-1 away against FK Austria Wien in the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League group stage.