{"id":16763,"date":"2018-06-26T00:31:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T04:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonsoccer.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=16763"},"modified":"2018-06-26T00:31:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T04:31:19","slug":"tale-russia-uruguay-second-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2018\/06\/26\/tale-russia-uruguay-second-half\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup Group A Finale: The Tale of the Russia-Uruguay Second Half"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITORIAL (June 25, 2018) —<\/strong>\u00a0The Russian Men’s National Team should be grateful that there are two halves in a football match.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Tale of the Russia-Uruguay Second Half<\/b><\/h1>\n

However, despite the\u00a041,970 fans in attendance — mainly Russian — supporting the host nation, the cards did not fall in Russia’s favor.<\/p>\n

Neither did the goals.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Russia also gave up two goals to Uruguay. The first was scored by star forward\u00a0Luis 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

However, the two sides moved on to the knockout stages.<\/p>\n

Igor Akinfeev Wasn’t Great but Not Terrible<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At least it wasn’t the same blunder Igor Akinfeev had in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In the end, there was nothing Akinfeev could have done for the third goal.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Akinfeev will certainly have to polish his skills for Russia’s big elimination round test. But, we’ll get to that later.<\/p>\n

The Yellow Card Conundrum\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

There were a few yellow cards given to the Russians on Monday.<\/p>\n

Aside from Smolnikov’s two cautions — which combined to become a red card — it only took referee\u00a0Malang Diedhiou of Senegal nine minutes to give Yury\u00a0Gazinsky a yellow card.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It sure didn’t feel that way.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Russia needs to limit the fouls against their high-profile opponent in the knockout stage if they want to have a chance.<\/p>\n

The Fedor Effect<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fedor Smolov was the X-factor for Russia.<\/p>\n

The famous striker played a different role for Russia when he entered the match in the 60th minute for\u00a0Aleksei Miranchuk. Despite being down 10 men, Russia continued to apply pressure on Uruguay in the attack.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A lone striker formation would be a disaster against one of the favorites to bring home the World Cup.<\/p>\n

What’s Next?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Russia’s high-profile opponent is Spain.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Russia and Spain will face off on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>