Guus Hiddink's side travelled to Andorra on November 21 convinced they would be missing out on the European Championships.

All the focus was in London where England hosted Group E leaders Croatia - who had already booked their place for Austria and Switzerland - needing only a draw to join their opponents in this summer's tournament.

But in a dramatic night England fought back from 2-0 down to draw level at 2-2 only for them to concede a 77th-minute winner to Mladen Petric.

That result virtually handed the Euro 2008 berth to Russia as no-one expected minnows Andorra to do anything other than capitulate and, although the hosts put up a fight, Dmitri Sychev's 39th-minute goal was enough to secure qualification.

It was an outcome which looked unlikely two months previously when Hiddink's side had lost 3-0 to England at Wembley.

However, a topsy-turvy end to the campaign saw England lose in Russia and Russia subsequently lose in Israel as it seemed neither side could nail down second place in the group behind Croatia.

That victory over England in October ultimately proved to be crucial as it gave Hiddink's side the belief that they could still be a force at the European Championships.

Almost five weeks after losing in London the Russians found themselves 1-0 down in Moscow with 20 minutes to go and their Euro 2008 hopes fading fast.

However, they received a helping hand from Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney - scorer of England's goal that night - as his foul on Konstantin Zyrianov presented Roman Pavlyuchenko with the chance to equalise from the penalty spot.

From the moment his shot went in the visitors' deterioration was patently visible as their confidence, as well as their composure, crumbled and when Pavlyuchenko scored a second four minutes later the reversal in fortunes was complete.

Not only did it put Russia's qualification bid back on track but it denied vital points to their chief rivals.

The seeds of belief had been sown.

However, the green shoots of recovery were cruelly mown down a month later as the width of a post prevented Russia taking a 2-1 lead late on against Israel and, even more cruelly, their hosts went down the other end and snatched a 90th-minute winner through Omer Golan.

That handed the initiative to England but the team - under then manager Steve McClaren - could not close out qualification and their failure opened the door for Russia to barge right through.

The campaign had begun inauspiciously as their hosting of Croatia in their opening match in September 2006 finished goalless and that was followed by a 1-1 home draw with Israel.

Things picked up against the eastern Europeans as Estonia (2-0), Macedonia (2-0), Estonia (2-0) were all dispatched with Andorra humbled 4-0 at home - thanks to a hat-trick from Alexander Kerzhakov - as Russia recovered with a vengeance.

It was another goalless draw with the Croats, this time in Zagreb, which raised expectations and with the visit of Macedonia ending in a 3-0 success Hiddink's side had taken 18 points from a possible 24 and had yet to be beaten.

The trip to England brought to an end their unbeaten record but that was just the start of the drama which ended with that trip to Andorra which could have been a pointless exercise but ultimately gave them the chance to improve on their last appearance in the European Championships four years ago, when they did not make it past the first round.