“Only in matches with strong opponents do the Russian national team show the problems that the team is experiencing” – Byshovets

Only in matches with strong opponents can one see the problems of the Russian national football team, said former head coach of the national team Anatoly Byshovets.

Earlier, the media reported that the Russian team will play friendly matches with Malaysia and Turkmenistan in October, and with Syria in November.

— I can say that these teams are not the opponents who could give an understanding of the state of our national team. We see the emergence of young people, new players. In this sense, of course, there will be an understanding of the level of these guys, but how real this understanding will be is a question. Only in matches with strong opponents do the problems that the team as a whole and the players themselves are experiencing become visible, — Byshovets told Sovetsky Sport.

The Russians will play friendly games with the national teams of Vietnam (September 5) and Thailand (September 7). The matches will take place in Hanoi.

The Russian national team has been suspended from international tournaments since 2022.

The Russian national team’s September matches will be shown live on the Match TV channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.