EDITORIAL (June 25, 2018) — The Russian Men’s National Team should be grateful that there are two halves in a football match.
With a chance to win the group, Russia needed a win or a draw to claim Group A. Meanwhile, Uruguay had sights set on a win to top the group. If Russia would have won the match, it would have been the first time ever that the country — even when Russia was the Soviet Union — topped their respective group.
The Tale of the Russia-Uruguay Second Half
However, despite the 41,970 fans in attendance — mainly Russian — supporting the host nation, the cards did not fall in Russia’s favor.
Neither did the goals.
Thankfully for Russia, there are two halves in soccer. The first half was a nightmare, with a red card given to midfielder Igor Smolnikov in the 36th minute.
Russia also gave up two goals to Uruguay. The first was scored by star forward Luis Suarez in the 10th minute. Later in the first half, Denis Cheryshev — Russia’s leading scorer in the tournament with three goals — scored an own goal past Igor Akinfeev.
Despite the red card and being forced down to 10 men, Russia held their own for most of the second half. A goal from Edison Cavani in the 90th minute was the final tally past Akinfeev.
However, the two sides moved on to the knockout stages.
Igor Akinfeev Wasn’t Great but Not Terrible
At least it wasn’t the same blunder Igor Akinfeev had in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Akinfeev had a rough day at the office in Samara. The veteran goalkeeper let three goals slip by him. The first goal was certainly stoppable, but Akinfeev decided to take a little leap — going the wrong way.
Should he have stayed on his two feet, he would have had time to deflect the shot. But, Russia had a fantastic free-kick plan, with Artem Dzyuba pushing two Uruguayan players out of the way so his goalkeeper could see.
The second goal was a tough one for Akinfeev. It looked like he had a good sight on the shot, originally taken by Cavani, but once it hit off of Cheryshev, it was game over. The third goal was a fluke for Akinfeev. He had originally deflected the first shot, but then Cavani bounced quickly on the rebound.
In the end, there was nothing Akinfeev could have done for the third goal.
However, there were some positives from the CKSA Moscow goalkeeper. Akinfeev made five crucial saves against Uruguay. He also knew when the appropriate times to come off his line were.
Akinfeev will certainly have to polish his skills for Russia’s big elimination round test. But, we’ll get to that later.
The Yellow Card Conundrum
There were a few yellow cards given to the Russians on Monday.
Aside from Smolnikov’s two cautions — which combined to become a red card — it only took referee Malang Diedhiou of Senegal nine minutes to give Yury Gazinsky a yellow card.
It seemed like almost every two minutes a foul was being whistled against Russia. Surprisingly, Russia was whistled for only 18 fouls and Uruguay followed close behind with 17 fouls.
It sure didn’t feel that way.
Artem Dzyuba had no problem hiding his disapproval of the Senegal referee. Instead, Diedhiou continued his questionable day by not even using VAR on a foul inside the box on Dzyuba.
Russia needs to limit the fouls against their high-profile opponent in the knockout stage if they want to have a chance.
The Fedor Effect
Fedor Smolov was the X-factor for Russia.
The famous striker played a different role for Russia when he entered the match in the 60th minute for Aleksei Miranchuk. Despite being down 10 men, Russia continued to apply pressure on Uruguay in the attack.
Smolov was a key figure in Russia’s counter-attacks. He had a few shots threaten Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, but couldn’t produce his first goal in the World Cup.
However, it seems like Smolov has found his way back into the Starting XI. His efforts against Uruguay brought life to a Russian team that desperately needed it. Smolov rekindled a fight when many of his teammates carried heavy legs.
However, if Stanislav Cherchesov wants to start Smolov, he should start him up top with Dzyuba. Russia is much better off in a 4-4-2 formation against Spain, who have some of the best attackers in the world.
A lone striker formation would be a disaster against one of the favorites to bring home the World Cup.
What’s Next?
Russia’s high-profile opponent is Spain.
Spain won Group B with a draw against Morocco, 2-2. Portugal had a chance, as did Iran, to top the group. However, the match between those two also ended in a draw, but 1-1, leaving Iran to go home with Morocco.
Russia and Spain will face off on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.
