Russia's pass-the-armband sums up problems ahead of World Cup (Reuters)

By Ed Dove TOULOUSE (Reuters) - The sight of Russian players passing around the captain's armband after Roman Shirokov went off early in the second half spoke volumes about their performance at Euro 2016. Shirokov was substituted in the 52nd minute of the embarrassing 3-0 capitulation to Wales but nobody appeared to want to replace him as captain. The armband was initially handed to Sergei Ignashevich, but he did not put it on, and eventually it found its way back to goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev who half-heartedly accepted it.