The Russian national team defeated the Spanish national team on penalties 4: 3 and for the first time since 1970 reached the quarter finals of the world championship. The Spanish national team owned the ball 74% of the playing time, Russia – 26%, the Spaniards struck 25 shots on the Russians ‘goal, of which 9 – on target, the Russians on the Spaniards’ goal – 6 and 1, respectively. But the Spanish national team could not score a single goal in 120 minutes of the main and extra time: the only goal into the goal of Igor Akinfeev flew in the 12th minute with a ricochet from the leg of defender Sergei Ignashevich. Russia bounced back in the 41st minute – a goal from the penalty spot was scored by Artem Dzyuba.
The Russian national team went to the match with Spain with five defenders, and this, according to the head coach of the national team Stanislav Cherchesov, was the right tactic: to play the second number. “10 years ago, at the European Championship, the Spanish national team beat us twice – 3: 0 and 4: 1, because we got into the game with them on a collision course. If we had chosen a different tactic, started playing open football with them, we could have lost, ”Cherchesov said.
Answering the question what emotions he experiences after the historic victory, Cherchesov replied: “Emotions are simple: during the game these emotions come out, now is the time to prepare for the next match. The tournament is just beginning, we need to keep our emotions for the future! “
After that, Cherchesov presented a personalized T-shirt of the Russian national team to the Peruvian sports journalist Lorenzo de Josica, who has long supported Cherchesov and the Russian national team. “Lorenzo, this is your victory, not mine,” Akinfeev said. – Lorenzo – # # 1! After Akinfeev! “
“We would have a couple of such [журналистов]and we would definitely become world champions. But let’s try it, ”added Cherchesov. “Nobody has canceled internal reserves yet.”
Today the Russian national team has lost one player of the main squad. “I’m afraid that this was Zhirkov’s last match – unless we prepare him for the final,” Cherchesov said. “Today he came out with a sore leg.”
From the press conference, the journalists accompanied Cherchesov with applause – more stormy and prolonged than after the victory over Egypt. “I’ve already been in space, so now I’m not afraid of anything,” Cherchesov reacted.
The captain and goalkeeper of the Russian national team Igor Akinfeev, who made several key rescues in the match and saved two penalty kicks after the match, was extremely brief at the press conference. When asked how he feels after winning and being recognized as the best player of the match, he replied: “The best player of the match is the team and the fans. Of course, we would like to play differently, to attack more, but this is the Spanish national team – no team can afford to attack 40-50 percent of the time. ” After that, Akinfeev retired to the doping control procedure.
The head coach of the Spanish national team Fernando Hierro began his press conference with the words: “[После поражения от России] we feel like all of Spain. We came here with great ambition. We knew that the match would not be easy, that Russia is good in standard situations and can dominate the air. We had the opportunity to win the match [в основное время], but it all ended with a penalty shootout. And this is a lottery. “
“But I can’t make any complaints about any player. They trained in such a way that I thought they were going to die, ”added Hierro. – We have not lost a single game in regulation time – this is a fact. But this is the reality of the World Cup. We are suffering, everyone on the team, the entire Spanish people. Everything was fine, but we didn’t win. “
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