The players
Star man
Igor Akinfeev has hogged the gloves as Russia's first-choice goalkeeper for the best part of a decade and he's only 28, resisting the lure of a big move abroad and staying loyal to his club CSKA. Has recorded several songs with popular Russian pop group Ruki Vverkh! – the name means Hands Up!, though Volume Down! or better still Stereo Off! would be more appropriate.
One for the Premier League
Artem Dzyuba is likely to stand out in Brazil, even if he will almost certainly start the tournament on the bench – he's 6ft 5in, has the requisite good-feet-for-a-big-man and has just had a fine season on loan from Spartak Moscow to Rostov. On the downside, he has bad memories of a youth tournament in England in 2007 where "the food was awful" and "I lost half a stone".
The bad boy
Star midfielder Alan Dzagoev has an eye for the defence-splitting pass and a head for referee-troubling punch, and a father/agent for the desperate get-me-out-of-here quote. He was blamed for CSKA Moscow's elimination from Europe after getting sent off for a scuffle off the ball, his fourth red card in the past two seasons.
The weakest link
Russia boast an excellent and experienced defence but their attack is not so much embarrassment of riches as rich in embarrassment. Alexander Kerzhakov will lead the line but his position is under considerable threat.
The coach
Perhaps it was Fabio Capello's Russophile taste in art – Wassily Kandinsky and Marc Chagall are among those whose daubings adorn his walls – that earned him the job of Russia manager. Perhaps it was the five Serie A titles he has amassed as a coach, or the two championships to which he led Real Madrid. Almost certainly it was not the performances of the England team the Fraggle-faced tactician coaxed to such a peak of underwhelmingness in South Africa in 2010.
Tactics
The first thing Russia have been getting right is draws – only Portugal posed a problem in qualifying, and in Brazil Group H is hardly the group of death. "The draw was in our favour," says Capello, for whom this is but a work in progress as he plans for Russia hosting the event in 2018, which will be his managerial swansong. Even so knockout qualification is the minimum requirement, and they are hoping a 4-3-3 with experience at the back, energy in the middle and one striker at the top will get them there. A 1-0 warm-up win over Slovakia exposed a lack of potency. "We can definitely play better, much better in attack. It's obvious that my players lacked freshness against the Slovaks," Capello said.
Grudge match
A rivalry with Poland started 400 years ago and, aided by the odd war and occasional occupation, is still gathering pace, with violence and ribald nationalism puckering Russia's Polish sojourn in Euro 2012, capped by 183 arrests on the day the two teams drew in Group A. Their most familiar foes are Belgium, who the Soviets faced in 1970, 1982 and 1986 and Russia played in 2002 – the last two games were both lost 3-2, and only the first was won.
Holed up
Germany had been expected to make it their base but when they decided to go elsewhere Russia gladly stepped in. Their training centre at the Estádio Novelli Júnior is almost finished after several delays, and the San Raphael Country Hotel is roaring to go, its Russian TV channels freshly connected.