In no way am I a big fan of Russia, both the football team and the regime. But I do appreciate the potential poetic justice of Russia eliminating the Salah-hobbling Sergio Ramos and his Spanish compadres in the next round.
Hiddink's Russia were decent, weren't they? Euro semi finalists in fact. I guess it's not beyond the realms of possibility that a well-organised and highly motivated host could go quite deep in the tournament,
Hiddink's Russia were decent, weren't they? Euro semi finalists in fact. I guess it's not beyond the realms of possibility that a well-organised and highly motivated host could go quite deep in the tournament,
They have to get past Spain or Portugal in the Round of 16.
Yes, noticed that. I really liked them actually despite being predisposed against them.
They did a good job of winning me over. Is it possible to separate a national team from the nation? A kind of 'love the players, not the badge' kind of situation.
Russia look like a really well organised team playing safe but effective football. Certainly more so than a lot of teams here. Didn't really see the "worst host team ever" tag (rankings notwithstanding) and they are going to top the group.
Oh, yes, third goal confirms that.
Their Group is so incredibly fucking easy it's a joke. Saudi arabia are a shambles, and there's a reason Egypt haven't qualified since Italia 90. Uruguay are also a team that is possibly even slower than the Russians. that third goal was very neat indeed.
Not a big fan of the Russian team, but it's almost certain now that they manage to make it to the next round without the help of any dodgy refereeing nonsense. Well deserved, in fact.
Deep down, we all suspect the whole squad is juiced up to the eyeballs, don’t we?
Regardless of the opposition (and Egypt aren't that bad), the quality of Russia's finishing has been better than anyone expected - and more efficient than anyone else's, at least so far.
The group isn't the hardest, but - let's face it - they've been hustling us in the build-up to the tournament.
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