Despite the success of the Russian national side in qualifying for the Euro 2008 Championships, very few Russian players are plying their trade abroad. There has been a marked drop in the number of Russian footballers playing in Europe.

In the past some Russian footballers, like Aleksandr Mostovoy or Dmitry Alenichev, did manage to build a career in Europe.

Aleksandr Mostovoy, known as the 'Tsar', enjoyed eight successful seasons with Celta Vigo of Spain, where he made more than 250 appearances for the club, scoring more than 50 goals.

Dmitry Alenichev, meanwhile, won both the UEFA Cup and Champions League with Porto. He thinks money is a big factor in why Russians stay at home.

“Everyone knows about how well Russian clubs are able to pay their players. Therefore Russian players stay at home. There's only one or two Russian internationals playing abroad at the moment – and that's a problem. By staying at home, they're not able to expand their football knowledge of how the game is played in other countries,” he said.