Their crucial meeting with one of the countries which lived under the Soviet regime could hardly be more uncomfortably timed for Russia as it battles on two fronts to retain its place at Euro 2016 today after having a suspended disqualification from the competition imposed upon them by UEFA.
Slovakia may sit at the foot of Group B courtesy of Gareth Bale and his Welsh colleagues but this is a team which defeated reigning champions Spain during a six match winning streak and all but secured their qualification for this tournament in that sequence of matches which started their campaign, so they seem unlikely to be intimidated by the prospect of taking on their bigger neighbours.
Admittedly the fact that this is their first visit to the finals of the Euros since establishing statehood in 1993 might suggest that they could struggle with the environment, however that too is countered by the knowledge that on their only visit to the World Cup finals six years ago they got through the group stages, knocking out then defending champions Italy in a winner take all final pool match.
By contrast with the Slovaks, who ended up having to rely on that early form as they ultimately scrambled their way to qualification for this tournament, the Russians struggled early on before generating confidence-boosting momentum following a change of management as Fabio Capello was sacked to be replaced by Leonid Slutsky, winning their last four matches to top their pool.
The recent history of matches between these countries meanwhile points towards a dour encounter, since their teams have registered just three goals between them in their last four encounters and defeat for either will leave them facing the prospect of elimination.
In what always looked like being a tight pool Russia’s opening day draw with England has put everything in the balance with two matches that already had a derby element to them now carrying a real sense of threat for teams that always carry vast expectations but whose greatest achievements now lie 50 years and more in the past.
Artem Dzubya, the striker who struggled to make any sort of impression against England, has claimed that he and his colleagues will carry more of a threat in their remaining matches.
"Our defence was well organised but not everything worked in attack, we were a bit disjointed," he told UEFA.com.
"A lot of balls got kicked out of play, but it was the first match and a difficult one. At times we held on to the ball really well. I think if we add 20-30 per cent in attack, there will be more goals and we'll create more chances."
By contrast with the way the Russians rescued an unlikely point, the Slovakians felt they had missed an opportunity since they seemed to have established the upper hand even before substitute Ondrej Duda registered their equaliser less than a minute after coming off the bench and looked as if they might push on for the win before Wales made their little bit of history by becoming the first British side to claim an opening day win at a European Championship when Hal Robson-Kanu’s scuffed shot found its way in for their late winner.
“We dominated in the second half but couldn't score a second,” said Slovakian captain Marek Hamsik.
"We pressured Wales and created several chances. I don't know if we can talk about luck for Wales, but it was above all a balanced encounter."
Yet all of those football considerations feel secondary as we wait to see how Russian supporters behave following the disgusting scenes that were the latest to undermine sport’s reputation as a force for good in Marseilles at the weekend and brought about that punishment from the organisers.
Even before that was announced there was a real sense that an example may have to be set with the expulsion of a team from the tournament for fan hooliganism at a time when political and racial tensions make this championship a potential flashpoint for much more serious problems and in tournament terms at least as much attention is consequently going to be paid to Russia and England off the field, in turn offering an opportunity for provocation to the more mindless elements among those supporting rival teams.
In the past such warnings have had a hollow ring to them, but all that has happened in France in the past few years means there is a real sense that this is not wholly in the hands of the football authorities, which themselves no longer have the same sort of influence over the governments of host nations as was previously the case, courtesy of the scandals that have riven the sport.
Sport’s advocates love to think of it as having the capacity to transcend politics, religion and all else as a healing power, but this time around there is a real sense that it may become a tool for those with very different agendas and to that end today’s proceedings are under the closest scrutiny.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here