For Stuttgart’s Russian forward Pavel Pogrebnyak (pictured in a red jersey), the World Cup 2010 qualifier against Liechtenstein on Saturday will be anything but easy: the striker has admitted that he has not forgotten last spring’s game when Russia struggled to extract a 1:0 away win against a team many considered as an outsider in the qualifying group. In addition, the Russian will face a high plank of 25.90 rating points to beat in the FTBL system.
The high plank results from Pogrebnyak’s performance in Stuttgart’s 4:2 win over SC Freiburg in the German Bundeliga; he scored one then. To earn a bonus in our system, a win for Russia could prove enough for Pogrebnyak.
But it remains unclear whether Pogrebnyak will even make the starting lineup or play the entire game: those factors will have a decisive influence on how many rating points he ends up earning.
© FTBL