By Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – Russia coach Leonid Slutsky has offered his resignation after his side’s inglorious exit from Euro 2016 at the group stage.
The resounding 3-0 defeat by Chris Coleman’s Wales left Russia bottom of Group B with just one point from three matches – a last-minute equaliser against England in their opening match.
“I think after a type of tournament like this, you need someone else to take charge of the national side for major competitions,” said Slutsky after a hugely disappointing campaign that will lead to much head-scratching as Russia prepares to host the 2018 World Cup.
“I’d like to apologise to the supporters. We were poor today, and we deserved to lose the game. We were bad in every area.”
Russia won all of their remaining qualifiers once Slutsky took over from Fabio Capello in August 2015 but have looked woefully slow in France. When asked how the country would prepare for the World Cup, he replied: “First, we need to change the head coach. I have to take full responsibility. I had time to prepare and find players and if we weren’t able to succeed, it’s definitely my mistake.”
Russia qualifies automatically for the 2018 tournament as hosts and Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko suggested Slutsky, who also coaches CSKA Moscow, could not do both jobs. “There will be no more combining,” said Mutko.
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