The Russian team defeated Iraq (2-0) today in their first home game since the start of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
The team led by Valery Karpin He has not played on Russian territory since he crushed Cyprus in November 2021 in the qualifying phase of the World Cup in Qatar (6-0), a tournament he finally did not play when he was not with FIFA.
The Russians, who hosted their rivals at the spectacular Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg on Sunday, were unable to beat a mediocre Iraqi team in the first half, where the Arabs were better.
The two goals came after the break. First Anton Miranchuk Take advantage of a rebound from the goalkeeper and then Pinyaev he scored second in personal play.
A selection without stars
The starting eleven for the locals hardly featured prominent footballers, except for Obliakov from CSKA or Sobolev from Spartak Moscow.
Karpin is already expected to introduce changes in relation to the team that drew (1-1) on Thursday in Iran, where he can no longer count on his main stars, Golovin (Monaco) and Alexéi Miranchuk (Torino), or with their captain Dzhikiya.
Karpin, on the wire
Due to bad results, Karpin He was ready to resign if the Russian Football Union decided, although he argued that the main reason for his players’ poor performance was mainly psychological.
Facing international ostracism and a lack of rivals to play against, the Russians played a friendly match with Kyrgyzstan (1-2) in September 2022 and in November they drew goalless with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Russia plans to play in Asia
For all these reasons, the Russian Football Union (UFR) is considering leaving UEFA and playing in Asia, a proposal that has sparked a heated national debate.
The UFR fears that the exclusion of their team will also prevent it from participating, in addition to the 2024 Euro Cup in Germany, in the qualifying phase for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the US, Mexico and Canada.
Karpin, who recently renewed his contract as coach until 2024, backed the idea that Zenit’s Brazilians, Malcolm and Claudinho, who recently received a Russian passport, can play for the Russian national team.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
