Bottom- feeders kick off event
The World Cup is set to start and finish with games at the opposite ends of the spectrum.
The lowest- ranked teams at the tournament will meet in the opener Thursday ( 11 a. m., WPGH) when Russia plays host to Saudi Arabia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which also is the venue for the July 15 final.
The No. 70- ranked Russians got an automatic spot as tournament host and the Saudis, at No. 67, have the lowest ranking of the 31 countries which secured places via qualifying. They’re the longest of long shots to reach the final.
The home team likely will need to win to have a realistic hope of advancing from Group A, and is expected to have Russian President Vladimir Putin in the crowd for support as it bids to end a winless streak of seven games. Only one World Cup host nation has failed to get past the group stage — South Africa in 2010.
The other two teams in the group, Egypt and Uruguay, boast star forwards in Mohamed Salah and Luis Suarez who could cause major problems for the Russia and Saudi defenses.
The Saudis lost their past three games but remain upbeat at their first World Cup appearance in 12 years.
Juan Antonio Pizzi and Russia’s Stanislav Cherchesov bring very different personalities and coaching tactics to the tournament.
Pizzi won the 2016 Copa America title with Chile using an all- action style with constant pressure on the opposition. He’ll struggle to replicate that with a Saudi team he took over after it had qualified for the Cup.
Cherchesov favors a more defensive approach. Cherchesov, known for his prickly demeanor in interviews, responded to questions about what he would say to Russian fans who are nervous about their team’s poor form by saying he’s “no psychologist, to go around calming people down.”
Injuries disrupted Russia’s preparations, with forward Alexander Kokorin and defenders Georgy Dzhikiya and Viktor Vasin sustaining severe knee injuries earlier this year.
That forced Cherchesov into some late shake- ups. Expect Fyodor Smolov to start up front and for more tinkering with the defense. Cherchesov abandoned his usual three- man back line with wing- backs in favor of a four- man defense against Austria a month ago, but Russia lost, 1- 0, and failed to register a shot on target.
Plan to draw viewers
NBCUniversal stepped up efforts to draw viewers to its Spanish- language World Cup coverage in the United States by scheduling a simulcast on NBC Sports Network for a match Sunday between Brazil and Switzerland.
Fox took over U. S. English- language rights from ESPN for this World Cup. Telemundo, part of Comcast Corp.’ s NBCUniversal Inc., replaced Univision as the U. S. Spanish- language rights holder.