Russian Premier League: 2012/13 Team of the Season

After 10 months of thrilling Russian Premier League action, finally, the season has come to a close. While it will always be remembered for the title returning to Moscow for the first time in 6 years with CSKA Moscow, there were plenty of other moments which will prove hard to forget.

Mordovia and Alania have gone back to where they came from, the First Division, and Moscow giants Dynamo failed to recover from their disastrous start quick enough to take a European slot for next season.

So many players managed to catch the headlines, but here is my own personal opinion, of which players deserve to be in the team of the season. Having only 11 places doesn’t give enough space to include everyone who should be there, but here are the players, who were just too good to ignore.

Aleksandr Belenov - Kuban Krasnodar, goalkeeper; a Spartak Moscow reject, he has gone on to establish himself as one of the leading goalkeepers in Russia.

FILE PHOTO: Aleksandr Belenov (R)

Standing at a commanding 1.95 meters, he’s got the ideal figure for a great goalkeeper and has proven to be one of the key reasons why Kuban have been punching above their weight all season, finishing eventually in 5th place and gaining entry to the Europa League.

There’s a snag for Kuban though. The Krasnodar outfit seem to be resigned to losing their star keeper to giants Anzhi, and if he can prove his worth there, then just maybe Russia coach Fabio Capello will start to finally take more notice of him.