It seems that in Russian football it becomes fashionable to play in half. Moscow “Spartak” remarkably showed how this is done in the matches of the Champions League against Bayern and Sporting. One time - as it should, the second - how it goes. The Russian national team took up the same thing on Saturday. Decently having played the first half of the match with Israel, in the second part of our football players were engaged in God knows what. The saddest thing is that Guus Hiddink's team did not receive a large, serious scoring touch and, as a result, was left with a nose. Two consecutive home draws - not the most shocking start of the qualifying cycle.
Israel - the team is very scratchy and unpleasant for rivals. She is not selected for any World Cups or European Championships, but each time she enjoys drinking the blood of her rivals. Israel did not lose a single match in the 2006 World Cup selection - neither Ireland, nor Switzerland, nor France. The most important thing is that it is almost impossible to understand how strong this team is - it’s impossible to consider Israeli trump cards, no matter how you look at it. One thing is obvious - the Israeli team has an excellent intuition, it somehow captures the mood swings of the opponent. And then it inflicts a sharp, unexpected blow.
The head coach of the Russian national team, Guus Hiddink, is in a permanent search for the basic composition - he will twist the Rubik's cube in one direction, then in the other, but the desired combination of colors is eluding the Dutchman. Once again trusting in army defense, Hiddink shoveled the center of the field: strengthened Aldonin Smertin, released Zhirkov on the left flank, and made Pogrebnyak the only forward. Arshavin and Bilyaletdinov should have helped. The latter, however, did not immediately hit the game and stayed away from the main events.
The match began for the Russian team nowhere better: while the Israelis got used to the Dynamo lawn, the hosts had an excellent counterattack. Subtle and timely pass Pogrebnyak brought Arshavin face to face with Avat, and the best footballer of the national team partner did not disappoint - 1: 0 in favor of ours. The first half did not give cause for concern at all - the Israeli team did not show much zeal. However, she never shows it at all - such is the team. As for the hosts, they acted collectively, in the defense were not mistaken, created moments in the attack. More often than others, Pogrebnyak found himself in the shock position, but he couldn’t penetrate qualitatively - something always hindered something. Nevertheless, even in the first half, the Russian team could well deprive the opponent of hope - the second goal would almost predetermine the final victory of the Hiddink team.
At the 31st minute, the first substitution took place - instead of Bilyaletdinov, Kerzhakov appeared on the field. The Russian team placed in the classic 3-5-2, Arshavin took a position under the attackers. Such an early substitution was not caused by the injury of the Lokomotiv player, just Bilyaletdinov for the umpteenth time could not show himself in the match for the national team. Either responsibility presses too hard, or Diniyar does not understand what is required of him. This time, Hiddink withstood only 30 minutes of Bilyaletdinov’s game, however, the personnel reshuffle, unfortunately, made me remember the well-known saying about the unsuccessful replacement of a piercing object with a detergent. Kerzhakov, as always, moved a lot, hit the ball as soon as possible - the goal was much less frequent - and did not want to interact with anyone except Arshavin. With the help of the Zenit striker, the team successfully did not use several more good points, and then went to the locker room to rest - the first half ended.
After the break, our team got sick a lot. Apparently, the first half convinced the players of Israel's complete inability to resist. How many teams have already come across this trick! Somehow quietly, the guests took the ball, but this did not mean that the Russian team consciously switched to a counterattack game. There were very few counterattacks, as such. Impressiveness and relaxation were visible with the naked eye, and the guests caught this radiation unmistakably. Hiddink also felt the mood change: at first he exchanged Pogrebnyak for Izmailov (another “hypersuccessful” collection), and in the 78th minute he removed the tired Zhirkov from the game - instead of the army team, Semshov had to play out the match. But no substitution had any positive impact on the game - the players of the Russian national team continued to “bring closer” the final whistle of referee Florian Mayer.
If the Russians really brought the match to a victorious end, it could still somehow justify the emptiness of the second half. But in the 84th minute, the defense of the Russian team let such a rooster that guests simply could not take advantage of the gift. Vasily Berezutsky first lost sight of the Nigerian Israeli Tamus, then easily allowed the attacker to beat himself. Tamus hit parried Akinfeev, but Ben Shoshan finished off the ball into an empty net already. The second brother Berezutsky, Alexei, did not succeed in stopping him. As for Ignashevich, he did not take any part in the episode. The one and only mistake of defense - and Israel equalized.
The Russian team was no longer able to get to the final onslaught - it is not so easy to force yourself to play football again. Moreover, Ben Shoshan could bring Israel victory: immediately after the goal, the guests organized an attack of four to three, but, fortunately for the Russians, the attacker was clearly greedy and missed the point. However, a draw in Moscow pleased the guests: after three matches held, the Israeli team shares the first place in the group with the English team. We are still very far away from this ...
KIRILL DEMENTYEV