Russia’s success raising more than few eyebrows

Cloud of suspicion hovers over host country in light of previous doping indiscretions, writes Kurtis Larson.

MOSCOW Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov rarely sheds a smile.

He’s the most prickly manager at this World Cup when — not if — he inevitably becomes irritated.

Two things were clear amid Cherchesov’s pre-game news conference Sunday: He’s sick of doping allegations and he doesn’t care at all for English media.

The 54-year-old scowled when a reporter introduced himself as working for The Daily Telegraph.

The question posed didn’t explicitly accuse the Russians of doping. It did, however, inquire as to whether FIFA had initiated any extra testing on Cherchesov’s players ahead of today’s meeting with Uruguay.

“Excuse me, is this a question for the match or philosophy? I don’t understand,” Cherchesov interrupted again.

Skeptics of Russia’s national team point to a suspicious uptick in performance, given the hosts entered this tournament as the 70th-ranked country.

Impressive wins over Saudi Arabia and Egypt were scrutinized by skeptics who sounded alarms after viewing Russia’s superior fitness analytics.

Midfielder Aleksandr Golovin covered an astounding 12.7 kilometres in Russia’s opening win — more than any other player in the tournament.

As a team, the hosts have covered more ground than any other squad at this World Cup. In fact, Golovin’s teammates — Alexander Samedov and Iury Gazinsky — have covered more distance than anyone not named Golovin.

Travis Tygart of the U.S. Antidoping Agency told the Telegraph Russia’s “extraordinary” performance at this World Cup demands more stringent drug testing, especially after a Russian doping scandal rocked the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Cherchesov had read the reports ahead of Sunday’s news conference. He reminded the room his team’s conditioning was just as good during last summer’s Confederations Cup. “There is some inner motivation,” he added. “The greatest motivation is we’re playing at home and the public supports us.”

Tournament organizers haven’t commented on whether Russia’s national team has faced additional testing.

THIS AND THAT

Say what you will about Panama getting spanked by England. There was something special about aging Felipe Baloy, a Panamanian football legend, finding a goal against England. If their celebrations didn’t fill you with emotion, you might not have a soul … Because “winning ” at the World Cup means different things to different countries, just getting there can be enough. Scoring one goal can be enough. Earning a single point can be enough. Advancing from the group can be enough. This tournament is about more than who wins it … For those soccer snobs out there blabbing on about how Panama shouldn’t be at this tournament, try this on for size: more than 50 per cent of CONCACAF teams have advanced beyond the group stage at the previous nine World Cups … Of course, Panama isn’t void of criticism. I didn’t expect much from the Canal Boys at this tournament, but I did expect them to be the best version of themselves: compact, stingy, annoying, stubborn, having the ability to take the joy out of Belgium and England’s games. They made too many defensive errors and really didn’t know how they wanted to defend a superior opponent … U.S. fans took to Twitter during Sunday’s England-panama slaughter to savage their squad for not making this tournament. My question: how do you know the U.S. would have fared that much better against England? This is the same U.S. squad that fell 4-0 in Costa Rica during qualifying and couldn’t manage a draw in Trinidad and Tobago.