da imperador bet： Euro 2016 took a giant leap closer with last weekend’s draw for the group stages in Paris.

da wazamba： The home nations who qualified for the tournament all learned the identity of their first three opponents and almost inevitably two were drawn together.

England play Wales in Lens on June 16. The other two teams in the group however, will be hoping that the fixture represents a distraction from the task of reaching the last 16.

Russia and Slovakia will have high ambitions of progress. Here we take a look at the Russians’ main men who will be a danger to the home nations come the summer.

Alan Dzagoev

Dzagoev has often been picked out pre-tournament as a threat to Russia’s opponents but the reasons for doing so have altered over the course of his career so far.

Upon making his international debut at just 18, the Ossettian-born man was already someone identified as a major world star in the making.

A bright young attacking threat and the future of the game in his home country. Dzagoev though has never left Russia, perhaps seeing plenty of his predecessors try and fail at the big clubs of Europe.

He remains a key player though and has developed from a teenager offering sporadic moments of exceptional craft and brilliance, into a rounded professional puppet master of a midfielder.

The CSKA Moscow man has superb ability on the ball and is more than capable of dictating the game for his side.

He is only getting better with age and when the tournament starts will still be just 25 but will have the experience of over 50 caps to his name.

While he operates deeper these days, his attacking instinct still exists and he has nine international goals, three of which came at Euro 2012.

Artyom Dzyuba

On the international scene Dzyuba is the ultimate late bloomer, with his first goal for Russia only arriving last September.

That didn’t stop the big Zenit St Petersburg man becoming their top goalscorer during qualification as he finished the campaign with eight goals.

Having begun his career at Spartak Moscow, Dzyuba struggled to make an impact in the capital, but a series of successful loan spells eventually saw him find his way to Zenit where he has now formed an interesting partnership with Brazilian star Hulk.

At 6 ft 5 Dzyuba will represent an uncomfortable 90 minutes for the centre backs of England, Wales and Slovakia this summer.

His size however is far from his only weapon. The 27 year old boasts a great burst of pace that belies his large frame and his ability with the ball at his feet is also not to be underestimated.

The former Spartak forward is in the form of his career for both club and country. If he can produce the goods at the tournament, Dzyuba is an imposing threat to the other teams in the group.

Aleksandr Kokorin

Kokorin featured for Russia at both Euro 2012 and the World Cup in Brazil and has largely been a consistent performer for his country since making his debut back in 2011.

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He now has 10 international goals which, along with solid club form in the Russian Premier League, have made him the subject of regular transfer rumours linking him with moves to England.

Arsene Wenger is known to be a fan and it’s easy to see why given the 24 year old’s pace, movement and good goalscoring record.

Kokorin signed for Anzhi, who sold him back to Dynamo Moscow a couple of months later without him having played a single minute, in a move that could really only happen in Russian football.

It remains to be seen if the clever forward will move abroad but his contract expires in the summer so he could have found a new employer before the tournament begins.

Like Dzagoev and Dzyuba though, he has spent his entire career at home to date. Russia often produces a side greater than the sum of it’s parts, but Kokorin will regardless be a key man.

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