As you know, in the penultimate match of the World Cup qualifying tournament, the Russian national team literally destroyed the Cyprus national team, which is called "in class" - 6: 0. Now the fate of the ticket to the final stage of the tournament will be decided on Sunday in Croatia, and it is enough for our team to play in a draw.
Among our guys, Alexander Erokhin (twice), Fedor Smolov, Andrey Mostovoy, Alexey Sutormin and Anton Zabolotny distinguished themselves.
Despite such a major victory, experts are not inclined to praise our team, rightly believing that the Croatian national team, which defeated Malta 7-1 last night, is in no way inferior to it.
In this regard, journalist Igor Shulika is glad that Karpin's team again did not miss this achievement, because defense is its weakest point:
“But also just a huge luck. Secondly, at 2: 0, Cyprus quit playing and training before Croatia did not work out. It is important that they have scored five, this gives the players confidence. It is also important that there were no yellow cards, which means that no one will miss the match with Croatia.
The handwriting of the team is visible, the coaching staff left the game with a pole through the awnings, there were significantly more options in the attack. Including, because there is no leader without Dziuba, it doesn't matter, that's why the national team plays every match with a new captain, which means that everyone has to fight for a place in the squad.
But you shouldn't rejoice yet. Sunday's match is the moment of truth for this team. Everything fit together perfectly. Both motivation and a rival ... "
Sports columnist Igor Rabiner warns that sometimes too many goals are relaxing:
“I hope that the Russian national team will not leave the roof from these 6: 0. Judging by the first comments, this shouldn't happen. Moreover, 7: 1 Croatia in Malta, so to speak, synchronize the situation. So the traditional appeal “to leave something for Croatia” (Russia) is meaningless in this case. According to this logic, no one left anything - and 0: 0 in Split they will arrange us behind our backs.
In the second half, Valery Karpin's team, of course, got an A-plus - and thank God that quickly, in the 55th minute, all the nerves ran out and the show in the "ole" style began. According to its results, about a whole group of football players - Alexander Erokhin (a double, including a smart last goal), Fedor Smolov and Anton Zabolotny (1 + 1 each), Andrei Mostov and Alexei Sutormin (both had the first goals for the national team, and Andrei gave this solo that you will admire) - you can only say kind words.
But in the context of Croatia, I would not forget about the first half and the beginning of the second. Karpin said that he was dissatisfied with the first half, and he was absolutely right, not making a good face in a bad game. Thank God that we scored an early goal, otherwise everything could be much more complicated with such football ...
In the first 54 minutes, the number of elementary mistakes went off scale, and they could have ended in a completely different way with an opponent of a different level..."
And here is the honorary president of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov is more optimistic:
“I have a feeling that they scored a goal and thought that we would score a couple more, but with little blood, not really straining. After all, everyone had confidence in victory, but they wanted to do it on foot, not in a hurry. Did not work out. Some kind of excitement started when the Cypriots created a couple of moments.
Obviously, during the break, Karpin reassured the guys and said how to act: more energetic, bolder and more inventive. Which is what Mostovoy showed - he beat two or three and made a goal. Overall it was a good game. It is also important that no one received yellow cards that could lead to disqualification. For this I was worried, but there were no losses, no injuries - that's good. The game was useful: it showed the potential of the team and how it should be played - quickly, coolly, and wisely.
Cyprus has not tested the strength of our defenses, so it's hard to assess. But there were no gross mistakes. The only thing that can be said as a remark is that we start the attack very badly and make a lot of inaccurate first passes. This is quite obvious, you have to think about it.
I believe that at the moment we are not inferior to Croatia in any component - this is unambiguous. This is a completely feasible opponent for us ... "
Separately, it should be said about the Russian fans, who, unlike the players, behaved frankly ugly, having arranged a fight among themselves on the podium! When the instigator of the fight was taken away by the local police, the entire tribune left the stadium in protest, and the national team played the second half without support.
Sports commentator Dmitry Egorov called this behavior of fans "savagery", and hopes that "the police will sort it out and understand that this is not hooliganism, not a challenge to society, but an ordinary friendly showdown, which would hardly cause damage to others ..." Otherwise Russian fans will simply not be allowed to the decisive match in Croatia.
In any case, Valery Karpin's merits cannot be denied - under him the Russian national team for the first time in history did not lose 6 matches in a row, winning 5 of them with a record ratio of goals scored and conceded - 13 to 1! And there has never been a 6-0 score in modern history either. Although our team played with opponents and weaker Cyprus (for example, Andorra and Luxembourg), but there were no enchanting results.