Matches of the Russian national team have not aroused much interest among football fans lately. Valery Karpin is experimenting with the squad, and the opponents are third-rate Asian teams. They didn’t expect any extravaganza from the game with Iran.

But there were some interesting things to see. At least the coaching staff will now have additional information about the players.

The national team was beaten up in Tehran!

timely break

At first, the game lived up to all expectations: a dull roll of the ball, a high percentage of marriage, a complete lack of emotions. However, the fans, blowing vuvuzelas, did their job – and by the middle of the half, the teams were clearly excited. Better interaction stuck with our guys. The Russian national team especially loaded the left half-flank, where Anton Zinkovsky was operating.

It was the actions of the Spartak player that eventually led to the goal. Karpin’s team covered the opponent’s exit from the defense with branded pressure, after which Zinkovsky got the ball. Anton on a false swing entered the penalty area and ran into the bandwagon from Said Ezatolahi. The former Rostov football player could only shrug, while Anton Miranchuk calmly converted a penalty kick.

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After a missed ball, the Iranians ran. They even had a one-on-one, but the “ten” hosts Shahriyar Moghanlu took pity on Matvey Safonov and decided to shoot the crows instead of the goalkeeper. Then the Iranian team carried out some more very unpleasant attacks. Approaches to our gates have become regular. The culprit of the missed goal especially tried: Ezatolahi all the time went into the penalty area from deep in the field, trying to win top balls. The whistle for the break was clearly not in favor of the Iranians …

early fatigue

It would seem that one could take advantage of the break to rebuild and figure out how to counteract the pressure of the hosts. However, almost immediately after leaving the locker room, the Iranians equalized. The loser of the first half, Moghanlu, competently set himself up for a foul by Ruslan Litvinov in the penalty area. As a result – another penalty kick and a cold-blooded shot from the spot by Mehdi Taremi. Everything according to the precepts of Artem Dzyuba – “if you are not sure – hit the center.”

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Iran continued to create chances. Ezatolahi had a dangerous moment, who hit from the penalty line, but Saeed’s shot failed. However, the hosts could not refuse the desire to support the hosts. The Russians, on the other hand, began to allow more and more shotguns, and in the attack they completely died out.

At some point, there was a feeling that the team simply ran out of strength. Apparently, the physical preparation of our players simply leaves much to be desired. Although, perhaps, the matter is also in the active first third of the match, when Karpinsky pressing worked very well.

The substitutions helped a little – the team ran again. However, there is no need to talk about some kind of turning point in the game. As a result, the meeting ended in a draw, although Iran could well have scored the winning goal. I must admit: Russia got a lot from the Iranians – and it was very useful. Karpin will certainly draw conclusions from this result – first of all, in terms of physical training, which needs to be pumped in order to play active pressure, not only for the first 30 minutes. Perhaps things will be a little different in St. Petersburg against Iraq.

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On Sunday, March 26 at 17:00 Moscow time, watch the Russia-Iraq meeting live on the Match TV channel, as well as on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.