Russia already written off

NO WINS IN SEVEN GAMES

Russia’s love for Igor Akinfeev, their goalkeeper who spends much of his time picking balls out of the net, speaks volumes about the home team’s World Cup chances.

Now Akinfeev wants someone who can score to share the fame when the men in red get the party started against Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

“The team have to come out and play,” Akinfeev said after a 1-0 loss in a friendly to Austria on May 30 in which Russia did not register a single shot on target.

“If they do not, the score is not going to change.”

The 32-year-old CSKA Moscow veteran is the World Cup star you may very well have never heard of.

The Russian captain has played more games for club (565) and country (106) than Soviet goalkeeping legends Lev Yashin and Rinat Dasayev.

He has won six league titles and been named Russia’s top goalkeeper 10 times.

Russia’s performance entering their home World Cup has not just been poor, it has been historically so.

Coach Stanislav Cherchesov’s men enter the tournament as the first Soviet or Russian side to go winless in seven matches.

They became the lowest-ranked of the 32 teams in the tournament by sliding to their lowest Fifa ranking ever – 70th.

Fans let their frustration show by whistling them off the pitch after they drew their final warm-up against Turkey 1-1 in Moscow on June 5.

Cherchesov will point out that his squad were coming along nicely until getting hit by a head-shaking rash of injuries in the spring.

Russia lost a starting striker and four big defenders within a matter of weeks.

The problems got so dire that Cherchesov had to ask 38-year-old Sergei Ignashevich to come out of international retirement and shore up the defence.

The coach’s critics counter that Russia were losing friendlies against modest competition even while healthy last year. – AFP