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Russia knocks Spain out of World Cup with penalty shootout victory
MOSCOW — Russia shockingly eliminated Spain from the World Cup, surviving two hours of dominance by the 2010 champions in a 1-1 draw and then winning a penalty shootout 4-3 on Sunday.
Russia's captain and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved spot-kicks from Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion and Iago Aspas, while all four Russian shooters scored before thousands of screaming home fans.
Akinfeev used his trailing left foot to kick the ball high away from the goal on Spain's last attempt. The 32-year-old goalkeeper leapt up, punched the air with both hands and dove into a belly flop across the rain-soaked turf as teammates raced to him from the halfway line.
The World Cup's lowestranked team — 70th when the tournament began — now advances to a quarterfinal against Croatia or Denmark in Sochi on Saturday.
A Russian-hosted party many feared would see the home team's hopes end within days now extends into a fourth weekend at the tournament.
"I just feel emptied out," Akinfeev said. "Over the whole second half and extra time, we were defending our goal and managed it, we were hoping for penalties because Spain are hard to beat. Spain can't always be lucky."
It gave Russia its greatest win in international soccer for 10 years, since Akinfeev was in goal for an extra-time victory over the Netherlands in a European Championship quarterfinal. That run was ended days later by a Spain team beginning its era of dominance.
Spain has now failed to win a knockout game at three major tournaments since it won the 2012 European championship, its third straight major title after the Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.
It was too passive a performance by the Spanish, who were ranked 10th and one of the pre-tournament favorites. Turmoil erupted two days before the opening game, when the federation fired the head coach.
"It's painful, there's nothing else we can say," Spain captain Sergio Ramos said. "We left our soul in the pitch."
Sunday's defeat likely spells the end of Andres Iniesta's national-team career. The 34-year-old Barcelona midfielder came off the bench and almost won the game with an 85th-minute shot well saved by Akinfeev. Iniesta also scored the first spot-kick of the shootout.
Akinfeev pushed away a 109th-minute shot from substitute Rodrigo who ran hard at goal from near the halfway line. He also ensured the game needed 30 extra minutes with back-to-back diving saves in the 85th to deny substitutes Iniesta and Aspas.
Spain led in the 12th minute when Ramos helped force Russia's Sergei Ignashevich into an own goal when his back was turned to the play. The 38-year-old defender diverted a crossed ball into the net with his heel as he and Ramos got tangled up.
An error in Spain's defense let Russia level in the 41st, after Gerard Pique's raised arm blocked a header by Artyom Dzyuba at a corner. Dzyuba's penalty kick fooled goalkeeper David De Gea to dive the wrong way.
The noisy 78,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium has been good for Russia at this tournament, which kicked off here with a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia. That defied expectations for the home team, and Russia's path to the final also includes a potential semifinal here.