The Russian national football team played a draw with the Qataris

The Russian national team completed the September training camp with the first match in its framework, which it played with more or less fighting strength. True, he did not help her achieve victory. The Russian team, which had previously been unable to cope with the Egyptian Olympic team, lost 1:1 with the Qataris on the road, winning back in the end.

The Russian national team, which last year was excluded from qualifying for the Qatari World Cup, still at least played in one of the stadiums that hosted it, and with one of the championship participants. For its current position – a team for which no official tournaments or clashes with elite rivals shine – the poster is simply wonderful. And the Russians decorated it with the game for some time.

Its first two friendly matches as part of the September training camp took place in Egypt. They played with the local Olympic team (it must be said, rather vaguely – a draw and a defeat), in fact, the Russian youth team were footballers for the future, and most often, clearly not the immediate one.

And on the field of the Al Janoub Arena in the suburbs of Doha, coach Valery Karpin released almost all the leaders, including foreign players – Alexander Golovin, Alexei Miranchuk.

And for about a quarter of an hour this version very clearly demonstrated the difference in class with the unusual Egyptian one. Here Ruslan Litvinov hinted at what his presence in the position of central defender gives – and such thin and soft passes of several tens of meters, like the one he gave to Miranchuk, who did not handle the ball. But Golovin, impudent as befits a man who has established himself as a star in the French league, hyped up the guards and out of the blue created the opportunity for a good shot, deflected by goalkeeper Meshal Barsham. But Fyodor Chalov caused a stir in the goalkeeper’s area, forcing the Qataris to frantically fight back. But Dmitry Barinov fired from a distance even more dangerous than Golovin.

Of course, there was no point in overestimating these Russian achievements. At the home World Cup, the Qatar national team performed completely ingloriously, and this year they did not provide any evidence that his experience benefited them. In the past months, the Qataris have been dealt with, often without difficulty, not only by the Mexicans, but also, for example, by the Bahrainis, Iraqis, Haitians, Panamanians, Kenyans and the Croatian team, made up of players under the age of 23. But still, the picture, compared to the Egyptian one, should have been terribly pleasing to the eyes of those who were worried about the guests.

But she pleased him only for about a quarter of an hour. And by the middle of the first half, the eye was already fixating on the fact that the hosts, so cautious and constantly retreating, were in control of the ball, and mostly in the Russian half. The Russian team has somehow lost its arrogance and toothiness, as if melted in the Qatari heat. Now it was she who was retreating, and Qatari control was transformed from time to time into good moments. Let’s say Bualem Khukha’s long-range shot looked great, but goalkeeper Matvey Safonov pulled it under the crossbar.

Something in the same spirit happened with Russian football players in Egyptian matches: a good period, which seemed to indicate an overwhelming superiority in skill and tone, was suddenly followed by a period of almost complete helplessness.

By and large, the Russian team snapped back properly only before the break. Anton Zinkovsky, who had been “silent” until then, unexpectedly exploded on the right flank, but only got a free kick.

In the middle of the second half, Valery Karpin decided that it was time for a new batch of substitutions. He created the previous one during the break, and it didn’t exactly provide the modest Russian game with a bright spark, but at least added density to it. Among those whom Karpin sent into battle was goalkeeper Ilya Lantratov. And already standing on the edge, he watched as the more or less reliable Russian defense allowed a terrible breakdown, allowing Akram Afif to run away one on one with Matvey Safonov. The Russian national team and its goalkeeper were lucky: Afif missed.

Lantratov was much less fortunate. Immediately after his release, the Qatar national team received a cross from the left flank. The ball perfectly flew over Alexander Soldatenkov, who appeared with Lantratov, who, it seems, did not expect such a trick, and landed on the head of Akhmed Alaeldin. The Qataris opened the scoring.

Only after being crushed by circumstances did the Russian team regain its interesting appearance.

In the end, she played dashing and passionate football, in which emotions did not exclude prudence. The Russian team had little time to save it, but they still found it. The corner and high jump of Soldatenkov, who was standing in front of him, helped him. Moreover, there was a feeling that the goal seemed to inject a powerful dose of adrenaline into the Russian football players. But the final whistle sounded too early for it to be used effectively.

Alexey Dospehov