Alexander Sobolev / Photo: © Denis Bushkovsky / Match TV
The Sportbox.ru expert assessed the Russian team against the backdrop of a strong opponent.
I would like to note that this was our team’s strongest opponent since the suspension. And at the same time I can say that this was the best game for the same period. The quality was high – Karpin’s team had never played both halves so smoothly in any of the previous matches. Even when we played against weak opponents, there were differences, but not here. After the break, if we talk about defense, it turned out even better.
I believe that such a game, when the teams act at a good pace on a collision course, should have appealed to the fans. Both teams played to win, no one closed. When the ball was lost, they went on the defensive, but in the event of an interception, they went forward in large numbers. If we talk about moments, our team had two hits on the goal frame, in another episode it was possible to score, plus two disallowed goals. Cameroon has two scoring chances and three one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. In all three cases, Safonov came to the rescue.
Open video
In general, it turned out a little paradoxically – Russia won, which means the fans and the coaching staff can be happy. But if Cameroon had realized their chances, it is still unclear what the final score would have been. I think there should be questions about the first half, especially for the defenders.
I would also like to note the work of the team from Saudi Arabia. The trial was excellent. Another lesson for our referees, if the Saudis judge this way, then we need to improve our work.
In terms of tactics, I can say that it would be possible to play three central defenders here, but Karpin doesn’t play like that anywhere. In addition, he had three players in the center of the field, each of whom is good at defending and pressing. In front, it was also theoretically possible to play two forwards, but the option with one striker and two insiders was chosen. In case of loss of the ball, Oblyakov and Pinyaev were supposed to cover the flanks, and Kuzyaev, Glebov and Barinov were to block the center of the field. Full backs Silyanov and Volkov joined the attack – the latter did it more successfully and played a good match.
The substitutions were all by position. Perhaps we could have closed with a lead. But Karpin refused this, and managed to maintain the winning score without tactical changes.
On October 16, the Russian team will play against the Kenyan team, the match will take place in Turkey. The game will be shown live on the Match TV channel.
