Russia defends home soil in style in World Cup opener
Photo credit: Vladimir Astapkovici/Sputnik
There are positive starts to the World Cup, then there’s what host country Russia did to Saudi Arabia on Thursday in the 2018 World Cup opener, which could only be described as a thrashing.
The hosts opened the scoring early on a 12th-minute strike by Yuri Gazinskiy and never looked back. Ninety-plus minutes later, the scoreboard read 5-nil Russia.
Denis Cheryshev added a second with a cheeky, composed finish in the 43rd on a pass from Roman Zobnin to send Russia to the break with a 2-0 lead. Things didn’t get any better from there for the footballers in green.
Even facing a deficit, Saudi Arabia never picked up any significant steam in the second half. Effort wasn’t the problem, more so just an overall lack of talent and athleticism. The Saudi Arabian midfield and defense allowed too much space to begin with, then closed it too slowly once Russia received the ball in dangerous spots.
Artem Dzyuba headed home a third in the 71st to further separate the two sides. Russia’s fourth tally was particularly gorgeous, as Cheryshev completed his brace with a brilliant outside-of-the-boot finish in stoppage time. Here it is at the 1:12 mark, courtesy of FOX Soccer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEPA8ShYFoY
A minute later in stoppage time, Aleksandr Golovin tacked on a fifth on a swerving free kick that crept inside the near post. It was an exclamation point on Russia’s emphatic World Cup debut with the whole world’s eyes on the state.
Cheryshev was hands down the man of the match, as both of his strikes were absolutely breathtaking. But on the whole, Russia delivered a complete team performance that was impressive to behold regardless of the competition level.
Saudi Arabia will need plenty of bounces to go its way from here on out to have any shot of getting out of Group A. Next up for the Saudis is perhaps an even tougher assignment Wednesday against Uruguay, which snagged three points of its own Friday in a 1-0 win over Egypt on a late Jose Gimenez goal.
Russia, meanwhile, positioned itself nicely to cruise out of the group with the stark win. But Egypt, desperate for points and more talented than Saudi Arabia, will present the Russians a much stiffer test Tuesday.
Follow Kevin on Twitter: @KJboxing.
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