Russia can rely on Rossiyanka

WFC Rossiyanka are through to their first UEFA Women's Cup quarter-final and coach Vladimir Gerasimov believes their success will benefit Russian female football as a whole.

Comfortable progress
It was not an ideal build-up to the second qualifying round for Rossiyanka as they conceded their Russian title to Zvezda-2005 Perm. However, once in Sweden they booked their last eight place with a match to spare as they defeated WFC Universitet Vitebsk 3-1 and CFF Clujana 2-1. Rossiyanka then came from two down to hold hosts Umeå IK 2-2, though they finished behind the Swedish champions on goal difference, meaning a tough quarter-final against 1. FFC Frankfurt next month.

National pride
Gerasimov told uefa.com: "This success will boost not only our club but also Russian women's football. We showed that we are capable of beating strong teams and we also drew against Umeå which is also worth a lot. They have the FIFA World Player of the Year in Marta and that tells a lot about their strength."

'Consistent'
Rossiyanka's own abilities pleased their coach, if not their finishing. "The team produced consistent performances throughout the whole competition," Gerasimov said. "We were especially good in the two first matches as we managed to achieve our basic task. But we were still hit by the same problem that has haunted us this season – poor finishing. Therefore after we drew against Umeå we were one goal short of finishing top of the group. We played with great discipline and confidence but that was only in our performances, not the scorelines. The girls are also happy with our football but not the results.

Frankfurt challenge
For the results against Frankfurt to be in Rossiyanka's favour, they will have to be at the top of their game against a team who, like Umeå, have won this competition twice and also provided much of the Germany team that won the last two FIFA Women's World Cups. Gerasimov said: "German women's football is one of the most powerful in the world and Frankfurt are its shining representatives. They are a consistent and balanced team with great players who play powerful, athletic football. On the one hand it is quite a pragmatic game but on the other they show great commitment to win at every stage of the whole 90 minutes."

Belief
The coach knows he will lack suspended duo Anna Kozhnikova and Maria Dyatchkova as he prepares for the home first leg, but the belief that Rossiyanka can succeed is there. "After progressing to the quarter-finals, the girls have started to feel they are capable of something bigger. They have stopped being afraid of big teams so Rossiyanka have now just one goal – to go as far as possible in the UEFA Cup."