Touted as the strongest side in Group A, Russia would be looking to atleast repeat their 2008 Euro performance where they managed to reach the semi-finals and if possible even better that by springing a few surprises along the way.

Russia's star striker Andrei Arshavin will captain his country's campaign at the Euro 2012 in Ukraine and Poland, coach Dick Advocaat announced on Monday.

Russia's Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, a respected figure in the country and known as the "Little General", will be looking to bow out on a high with a strong performance in Euro 2012.

Russia enters the Euro 2012 championships seeking to repeat the success of reaching the semi-finals in 2008 and erase the nightmare of failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Ana Ivanovic battled back from a set down to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and put Serbia back ahead at 2-1 in the Fed Cup semi-final with Russia here on Sunday.

Russia's two-time Grand Slam title-winner Svetlana Kuznetsova kept her team in the race for a place in the Fed Cup final by beating Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in a tough three-setter to pull the scores level at 1-1.

A programme has been launched to teach everyone in Russia's Sochi resort city, more than 600 words of English before it hosts the Winter Olympics in 2014.

FIFA has granted Russia a budget of $699 million to host the 2018 World Cup, a similar amount to that received by South Africa for the 2010 tournament.

Two Russian football clubs issued a joint statement on Thursday condemning an incident where a fan threw a banana at a player in Moscow.

Russia is better prepared now for the 2018 World Cup than Brazil is for the tournament just two years away, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said.