Rubin Kazan: Russia's Finest

?????????? ???? ????? ??????. Known to the rest of us as Rubin Kazan. That was, if they had even heard of them. They made it to the UEFA Cup a few times, but spent most of their years in the lower leagues. Outside of their home country Russia, they are well known for beating Barcelona in their only season of Champions League football. The man responsible for that was Kurban Berdyev. But he was sacked after 11 years at the helm as he was found to have taken money from the club. Suddenly, one of the best sides in Russia were a laughing stock.


Zenit St. Petersburg were on top. When they confirmed the signing of the world renowned Hulk, it was pretty much confirmed that the other teams had no chance. Rubin Kazan knew this. They couldn't buy players like Hulk, and they couldn't attract any managers with a reputation. But does every good manager have a good reputation? No. Andrei Kanchelskis had a reputation as a player, a key part of the Manchester United team in the early 90's, and he later moved to Everton, before transferring to Fiorentina for £8 million and later turning our for Glasgow Rangers. He retired in 2007, yet he did nothing for years after that. When Berdyev was sacked, Kanchelskis expressed an interest in the vacant job. He later got it, and Kazan would not regret it.


Kanchelskis had gotten his big break. He had worked with some top class managers in his time, such as Joe Royle and Claudio Ranieri. But of course, he had worked with Sir Alex Ferguson. And that was another level. Ferguson was, and still is, widely considered as one of the best managers of all time. But did that give him an advantage? Many would say no. However many doubters there were, Kanchelskis did not care. With an excellent pre-season, most people began to accept that this could work. That was soon confirmed as they beat Zenit St.Petersburg, albeit on penalties, to win the Super Cup. They went on to beat Dinamo Moscow 3-1 on the opening day, and now there was no doubters at all. They romped ahead of the pack, and beat Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen to the top spot in the Europa League Group Stages. But they wouldn't stop there, as he led his team to victory over CSKA Moscow in the Europa League Quarter Final before defeating Tottenham Hotspur on penalties to bring Rubin Kazan to Amsterdam for the Europa League final.

But the Europa League wasn't the only thing Kazan were in the chase for. They were leading the Russian Premier Division, something they did not expect to be after Zenit's acquisition of Hulk, Anzhi Machakalaka's cash influx and the superb ability of CSKA and Spartak Moscow. They finally secured the title on the final day after a 0-0 draw with Terek Grozny. They won the Russian Cup with a win over Krylja Sovetov. Then, the big game was to be played. At the Amsterdam ArenA, they faced Lyon in one of the biggest games in Kazan's history. And they took the lead with 20 minutes to go through Gokhan Tore, but they could not hold on. Jimmy Briand equalised with 4 minutes to play, and after 104 minutes, Lyon took the lead. Rubin Kazan had come all this way for nothing. They were going home empty handed. But Vladimir Dyadyun had other ideas. He put the ball into the back of the net with less than a minute to play. The game was going to penalties. Both sides scored the first, but missed their second. They both scored their next. Grenier stepped up to take Lyon's 4th. Arluaskis saved it. After one more goal each, Yann M'Vila stepped up. He had to score to win. Straight down the middle. Rubin Kazan had won the Europa League.


So, what is next for Andrei Kanchelskis? Ferguson has said that all the praise belongs to him. Zenit offered him a contract, but he rejected it. He has stayed with Rubin Kazan. He has made them into Russia's Finest.