Football's global tournament kicked off as Russia courtesy of Robbie says "Let Me Entertain You" with a 5-0 victory
The World Cup started today as Russia played Saudi Arabia. The Opening Ceremony and the first match took place in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow which hosted the Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea in 2008, and the athletics events in the 1980 Summer Olympic Games. The opening ceremony was performed by Robbie Williams and performed his big hits Let Me Entertain You, Feel and Angels accompanied by Russian Soprano Aida Garifullina. Russia is the lowest-ranked team in the whole tournament. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has the second-highest goalscorer in the qualifying stages, the only player scoring more was Robert Lewandowski of Poland. The pressure on Russia was tremendous because of the hosts having to win the opening match especially as they were coming without a win in 7 games and some experts calling it the weakest team in the whole tournament. This is also the first tournament to have Video Assistant Referee or VAR being used. The use of VAR was criticised when trialled in England during the FA Cup, but FIFA decided to use it here.
The first goal came after 12 minutes by Lury Gaszinskiy of Russia and was under threat of being reviewed by VAR but stood as it showed what would have been a foul was the Saudi player slipping on the pitch. The first decision given by VAR was a corner being changed for offside. Russia's Alan Dzageov who has tournament experience with being the joint-top scorer in Euro 2012 went off 25 minutes in with a hamstring injury. Russia got the second with 2 minutes to go to halftime by Denis Cheryshev smashing the ball into the roof of the net. The host went into halftime with a confident lead as they had the deserved lead. Saudi Arabia had a tremendous first 10-15minutes, but after the goal, it went downhill for them.
The first chance of the second half came from Saudi Arabia on a free-kick, but it went wide of the post. Then Russia got the third goal with 19 minutes to go from the substitute Artem Dzyuba. Saudi then had a strike straight away, but it went well wide of the far post. First yellow card was given Aleksander Golovkin with 3 minutes to go in the match. The match ended with a stunning goal scored by Denis Cheryshev from 17 yards out to the top corner of the net making it 4-0. To make it even better a class free-kick from Aleksander Golovkin made it 5-0 on the stroke of full-time. Russia whose confidence had been knocked by recent results now could go into the game against Mo Salah's Egypt with a win under their belt. Saudi Arabia came out with a good plan in the first 10 minutes, but after that, Russia just took control of the match, and they just didn't have the firepower to contend with the hosts.
I'll be back with a report on the Egypt-Uruguay, and the Spain-Portugal matches tomorrow.
The first goal came after 12 minutes by Lury Gaszinskiy of Russia and was under threat of being reviewed by VAR but stood as it showed what would have been a foul was the Saudi player slipping on the pitch. The first decision given by VAR was a corner being changed for offside. Russia's Alan Dzageov who has tournament experience with being the joint-top scorer in Euro 2012 went off 25 minutes in with a hamstring injury. Russia got the second with 2 minutes to go to halftime by Denis Cheryshev smashing the ball into the roof of the net. The host went into halftime with a confident lead as they had the deserved lead. Saudi Arabia had a tremendous first 10-15minutes, but after the goal, it went downhill for them.
The first chance of the second half came from Saudi Arabia on a free-kick, but it went wide of the post. Then Russia got the third goal with 19 minutes to go from the substitute Artem Dzyuba. Saudi then had a strike straight away, but it went well wide of the far post. First yellow card was given Aleksander Golovkin with 3 minutes to go in the match. The match ended with a stunning goal scored by Denis Cheryshev from 17 yards out to the top corner of the net making it 4-0. To make it even better a class free-kick from Aleksander Golovkin made it 5-0 on the stroke of full-time. Russia whose confidence had been knocked by recent results now could go into the game against Mo Salah's Egypt with a win under their belt. Saudi Arabia came out with a good plan in the first 10 minutes, but after that, Russia just took control of the match, and they just didn't have the firepower to contend with the hosts.
I'll be back with a report on the Egypt-Uruguay, and the Spain-Portugal matches tomorrow.
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