Soccer-Russia factbox for Euro 2016 finals draw

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russia factbox before the draw for the Euro 2016 finals in Paris on Dec.12: Seeding Pot for the draw: Pot Two  How They Qualified: Russia's qualifying campaign consisted of two contrasting halves. At times they looked abject under former coach Fabio Capello, who, to the relief of the vast majority of Russian supporters, was booted out after Russia's second defeat of the campaign by Austria in June. Qualification was anything but a certainty, but four straight wins under new coach Leonid Slutskiy saw them pip Sweden to the second automatic qualification spot behind Austria. Coach Leonid Slutskiy: Hailed earlier in his career as the Russian Jose Mourinho largely because he also started his coaching career at a young age, Slutskiy has developed into the best Russian-born coach in the country. The 44-year-old, whose playing career as a goalkeeper was cut short after he fell out of a tree, has enjoyed great success with CSKA Moscow over the last six years, twice winning the Russian Premier League title. He has doubled up as the national team coach as well and has had the full backing of players, pundits and fans alike. Slutskiy, who is known as a deep thinker of the game, goes into the finals with a 100 percent record as Russia coach in competitive matches. Russia's prospects: Just like at the World Cup in Brazil, Russia are likely to be one of the oldest teams in the competition in France, partly due to a dearth of young talent pushing for places. Russia are certainly not among the favourites, but they are well organised and a technical side. The stage is set for the likes of Artem Dzyuba, who scored eight goals in the qualifiers, to shine and a quarter-final appearance would be seen as a decent result for Slutskiy's side. Previous tournaments: The Soviet Union won the first ever European Championship in 1960, while in 1964, 1972 and 1988, the USSR were runners-up. Success has eluded them since Russia became independent, with one notable exception, when Russia got to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 under Guus Hiddink. Since the end of the Soviet era: 1992 group stage (as CIS); 1996 group stage; 2004 group stage; 2008 semi-finals; 2012 group stage. William Hill odds to win Euro 2016: 66/1 (12th favourites) (Compilied by Dmitriy Rogovitskiy in Moscow, editing by Mark Meadows)