One last chance for Russia Guilherme

Guilherme says Russia have “one last chance” to qualify from the group stages of Euro 2016 when they face Wales on Monday.

Only a win will do for the Golden Eagles, whose opening draw with England was followed up with a limp 2-1 defeat against Slovakia, leaving them bottom of Group B on one point.

Guilherme says his side are experienced enough to cope with the pressure of the situation, but admitted the dangerous Gareth Bale could be the difference between the two sides.

“Of course we feel pressure from you, the media, and from the fans as well as no one expected us to lose to Slovakia. But all the guys in the team believe that we have one last chance against Wales, and we can improve our game and qualify from the group.

“I think we have a lot of experienced players in the team and we know ourselves that we’re playing for one big country. Everybody understands that. So the coach doesn’t have to say much, we are experienced players and we have to understand it.”

“Everyone knows what Bale’s strengths are. He takes good free-kicks, everyone could see that in the first and second matches. And of course we need to pay attention to that, and not to let him score this way against us.

“Bale has a special unique shot, like Cristiano Ronaldo, when they shoot the ball changes trajectory. They produce the most goals with unpredictable trajectory each year. And the goals are the most interesting thing for you and for the fans, but for us (goalkeepers) it’s the opposite. And of course we are practising these things in training everyday,” he added.

Midfielder Aleksandr Golovin promised fans that the team will give everything they can in order to progress to the knockout stages of the tournament.

“I am very happy to be called up for such a big tournament. I hope we can deliver the result as a team, and we will try our best to achieve that.

“I took for myself that I need to play a little bit more bold. And I do agree with the critique – very few things went right, so I deserved everything that was said.

“I think there won’t be any questions regarding our fighting spirit, I am sure everyone will fight till the end. The quality of the game is a different question, we can’t predict that, but we will try our best.”