The new 09-10 season will bring a new away football shirt for the Russian national team. I like the colour of this shirt as it is a bit different from before. Previously the Russian tops would tend to be a bright red colour, but this shirt is more of a burgundy colour, with pale gold trim. It is made by Adidas and has the trademark Adidas three stripes going down the shoulders in the pale gold colour, with the same colour neck line. And there is a bit watermark style picture in the middle of the shirt of the two eagles which form part of the Russian national team logo. This adds to the style of the shirt and I’m sure it will be a hit amongst the patriotic Russian fans.

Russian football has really come to the boil over the last few years with Zenit St Petersburg doing really well at club level, and this has coincided with the fortunes of the national team, and with great players like Arshavin and Pavluchenko there is no reason why this nation’s football team will not continue to go from strength to strength, particularly under the leadership of a great coach like Guus Hiddink. In Euro 2008 they reached their best ever position of the semi finals, and by playing some excellent football on the way. And the new Russia football shirt will be their official jersey for the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign and for the tournament itself next summer which they should qualify for.

There are an assortment of names from past and present who you might like on the back of your shirt, like the players in the team currently and other players from past years like Victor Onopko, Valeriy Karpin and Vladimir Beschastnykh. Personally I would choose Arshavin as I love to watch his great trickery, control and shooting and I’m sure there will be more to come from him over the next few years.

Steve Aitken