MONDAY, JULY 2, 2018 20 Akinfeev stars Igor Akinfeev saved two penalties in a shootout as the hosts knocked out Spain and booked their place in the quarter-finals We were hoping for penalties. We are having a fantastic World Cup. AFP | Moscow Asensio, who made two brief substi- ball. Not just our fans, but the fans of other tute appearances in the group stage, The Russia goalkeeper was countries are getting a sense of this ussia captain Igor Akinfeev whipped in dangerously to the far again involved early in the sec- atmosphere and understood that saved two penalties in a dra- post where the ball looped in off an ond half, flying to his left to pluck Russians really know how to play Rmatic shootout as the World unsighted Ignashevich as he tussled a spinning Jordi Alba effort from football and want to play football Cup hosts dumped title contenders with Ramos. the air. Spain out in the last 16 following a Spain dominated the first 30 min- Cherchesov introduced Cher- 1-1 draw. utes, pressing Russia heavily as the yshev for Alexander Samedov on IGOR AKINFEEV Veteran Russia centre-back Sergei hosts struggled to advance beyond the hour, a move greeted by a deaf- Ignashevich gifted Spain the opening the halfway line in humid conditions. ening roar from the home support. goal on 12 minutes in Moscow when Aleksandr Golovin carved out their Iniesta replaced David Silva, he unwittingly turned into his own first chance of note, starting a move while Costa was withdrawn net after grappling with Sergio Ramos. with a jinking run before bending just for Aspas, and the two sub- We came here with ambition and we Russia hit back just before the in- wide of David de Gea’s left-hand post. stitutes went close to win- empathize with our people, those terval as Artem Dzyuba nervelessly Isco produced a series of regal ning it late in regulation converted a penalty awarded for a touches with Spain’s King Felipe VI time. that came all the way to Russia. I don’t handball by Gerard Pique. among those in the crowd at the Lu- A low 20-yard drive think you can talk about the team breaking Spain controlled the game as ex- zhniki Stadium, but Russia heading towards was down or collapsing. There’s a fine line pected but struggled to create genuine equalised shortly before palmed away by at Akin- between winning and losing chances, with Akinfeev sharp on the half-time. feev at full stretch, with few occasions they did before saving the angled follow-up SPAIN COACH FERNANDO HIERRO from Koke and Iago Aspas to seal a 4-3 Pique penalised from Aspas also pushed win on penalties. A deep corner was met to safety. “We are having a fantastic World by Dzyuba, whose head- Cup,” said Akinfeev. er struck the outstretched “Not just our fans, but the fans of arm of Pique, with referee other countries got a sense of this Bjorn Kuipers contem- Emotions are simple: I’m atmosphere and understood that Rus- plating his decision thinking only about the sians really know how to play football before pointing to and want to play football.” the spot. next game. That’s how it Russia will meet either Croatia or Dzyuba calmly is Denmark for a place in the semi-finals, sent De Gea the as Spain’s rotten run against hosts na- wrong with his Russia’s goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev RUSSIA COACH STANISLAV CHERCHESOV tion at major tournaments continued. penalty to join celebrates after stopping a shot by Spain’s Fernando Hierro made the bold Cheryshev on forward Iago Aspas during the penalty decision to drop Andres Iniesta for a team-leading shootout Koke in central midfield, with Marco three goals. Sunday July 1 SPAINSunday1 July1 RUSSIA 1 SPAIN 1 1 RUSSIA Asensio handed his first start of the Akinfeev Sunday PenaltyJuly 1 shootout 3 4 SPAIN 1 Penalty1 RUSSIA shootout 3 4 competition. snuffed out an BETTER Russia boss Stanislav Cherchesov opening for 12’ (og) Ignashevich Moscow - Luzhniki12’Penalty Stadium(og) shootoutIgnashevich3 4DzyubaMoscow(pen) -41’ Luzhniki Stadium Dzyuba (pen) 41’ Sunday July 1 Last 16 SPAIN 1 1 RUSSIA Last 16 left out leading scorer Denis Chery- Diego Costa 12’ (og) Ignashevich Moscow - Luzhniki Stadium Dzyuba (pen) 41’ shev, opting for three central defend- on the stroke KNOW RefereePenalty shootout Last3 164 Referee 48 ers in a conservative 5-3-2 formation. of half-time Bjorn Kuipers (NED) Bjorn KuipersRussia (NED) are into the It was Nacho, in for Dani Carvajal at as the Spain 12’ (og) Ignashevich Moscow - LuzhnikiReferee Stadium Dzyuba (pen) 41’ Bjorn LastKuipers 16 (NED) last eight of the right-back, who won the free-kick that striker Players PossessionPlayers PlayersPossession Players led to Spain taking the lead as he was tried to In four matches in his Referee World Cup for the caught by Yury Zhirkov to the right of latch onto 1 De Gea first WorldPlayers Cup appear1 De Gea- BjornPossession Kuipers1 Akinfeev (NED) (cap) first timePlayers in 481 Akinfeev (cap) the penalty area. a through 3 Piqué 1ance,De Gea David de Gea3 goesPiqué 2 Fernandes 1 years,Akinfeev since (cap) a quar2 Fernandes- 4 Nacho 370’Piquéhome havingPlayers74% effected4 Nacho 26% 70’Possession3 Kutepov 74% 2 terfinalFernandes26% appearancePlayers 3 Kutepov 5 Busquets 4 Nacho 5 Busquets70’ 4 Ignashevich 3 Kutepovin Mexico in 19704 Ignashevich 8 Koke 1justDe Geaone save in the8 entireKoke 74% 7 Kuziaev26% 197’Akinfeev (cap) 7 Kuziaev 97’ 35 PiquéBusquetstournament. Besides 24 FernandesIgnashevichas Soviet Union. 15 Ramos (cap) 8 Koke 15 Ramos (cap) 11 Zobnin 7 ThisKuziaev was their first11 Zobnin97’ 18 Alba 4 theNacho penalty kicks18 in70’Alba the 13 Kudriashov 3 Kutepov 13 Kudriashov 15 Ramos (cap) 25 Shots 6 74% 26%25 Shots11 Zobnin6 Sergio Ramos of Spain looks dejected 19 Costa 5shootout,80’Busquets there were19 Costa only 80’ 17 Golovin 4 penaltyIgnashevich shootout17 inGolovin 18 Alba 25 6 13 Kudriashov 8 Koke 9 On target 1 Shots 9 On target7 KuziaevWorld1 Cups, while97’ 20 Asensio 19104’a Costatotal of seven shots20 Asensio80’ on 104’ 18 Zhirkov 1746’Golovin 18 Zhirkov 46’ 21 Silva 1567’Ramos (cap) 67’ 19 Samedov 1161’Zobninfor Spain this was 61’ 20targetAsensio at his goal through21104’Silva 9 On target 1 18 Zhirkov 19 Samedov46’ 22 Isco 18 Alba 5 22 IscoFouls 19 25 22ShotsDzyuba 6 5 Fouls1365’Kudriashov their19 fourth. Only22 Dzyuba 65’ 1921theCostaSilva tournament, and80’67’ he 1719 GolovinSamedov 61’ conceded goals to six of 5 Fouls 19 Argentina (five) 6 Iniesta 202267’AsensioIsco (cap) = Captain6104’Iniesta Yellow card 9 67’On14 targetGranat(cap) = 1Captain 182246’ZhirkovDzyubaYellowhave card had more14 Granat46’65’ 46’ 2 Carvajal 21them,70’Silva includingSubstitution three2 67’Carvajal to Red card 70’ 6 CheryshevSubstitution 1961’SamedovRed card 6 Cheryshev61’ 61’ 6 Iniesta 67’ (cap) = Captain Yellow card 14 Granatshootouts 46’ 17 Aspas 2280’IscoCristianoog=own Ronaldo goal,17 pen=penaltyAspas 5 80’ 10FoulsSmolov og=own19 goal, pen=penalty2265’Dzyuba 10 Smolov65’ 65’ 2 Carvajal 70’ Substitution Red card 6 Cheryshev 61’ 9 Rodrigo 104’ Source: FIFA 9 Rodrigo 104’ 21 ErokhinSource: FIFA 97’ 21 Erokhin 97’ 176 IniestaAspas 67’80’ (cap)og=own = Captain goal, pen=penalty Yellow card 1410 GranatSmolov 46’65’ 29 CarvajalRodrigo 104’70’ Source:Substitution FIFA Red card 216 CheryshevErokhin 61’97’ 17 Aspas 80’ og=own goal, pen=penalty 10 Smolov 65’ Russia make World Cup history9 Rodrigo with fourth104’ Source: FIFA change 21 Erokhin 97’ ussia midfielder Alek- Rsandr Erokhin made 1029 World Cup history. He be- came the first player to enter the field as the fourth substi- Spain completed 1029 tute at Russia’s World Cup passes across the 120 clash with Spain. minutes of play in their With the two teams tied match against Russia, at 1-1 and seven minutes of and also managed 1013 extra-time played, Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov touches of the ball in opted to take advantage of regulation time. This FIFA’s new ruling, which al- was just the fourth time lows a fourth substitution since 1966 that a team to be made in the extra 30 touched the ball over a minutes. Erokhin, who plays thousand times in 90 his club football for Zenit, minutes, joining Brazil replaced Daler Kuzyaev as Russia looked for a way to (vs Italy in 1994), Spain turn the tide of attacks from (vs Germany in 2010) Fernando Hierro’s men. and Germany (vs Alge- Hierro followed suit seven ria in 2014) minutes after Erokhin’s en- trance, sending on Rodrigo Moreno for Marco Asensio. Russia players celebrate following their sides victory in the penalty shootout .