For many fans of Russian football, the decisive match at the World Cup in Brazil was the game between the team of Russia and Algeria. The meeting took place in the city of Curitiba on June 26. Capello's national team needed a win to continue in the playoffs.
The game between Russia and Algeria began with good news for Russian fans. Already in the 6th minute, after Kombarov's wonderful feed from the left flank, Kokorin sent the ball into the top nine of the African gates with his head. The goal turned out to be very beautiful.
After the goal, the Russians tried to control the ball more, but this did not lead to dangerous moments. The second half of the first half has already passed with a slight advantage of the Africans. The players of Algeria, mainly, tried to whip up danger at the gates of the Russians after the set pieces. It became striking that the Russians were losing horse balls over and over again. The Africans twice dangerously punched their heads at the opponent's goal. For the first time, Akinfeev got the ball, in the second attempt the African player missed the target. These were all dangerous calls for the Russians.
The attacking game of the Russian team in the first half did not add up. There is absolutely nothing to remember except the goal. Towards the end of the first half of the meeting, both teams fussed a lot, it was clear that in some moments the players lacked skill. That is why viewers saw very few dangerous attacks.
The first half of the meeting ended with a minimal 1 - 0 advantage of the Russians, which could not but delight the fans with a slightly boring game.
The second half began with the attacks of the Russians. Samedov had a wonderful chance, but the midfielder of the Russian national team could not beat the goalkeeper. At that time, the Russian fans did not want to believe that this attack would be the last dangerous threat to the Algerians' goal.
African players in the second half of the meeting tried to create a danger at the gates of the Russians with horse feeds into the penalty area. In the end, this gave a result. After the next standard, the serve went into the penalty area of the Russians. Akinfeev did not reach the ball at the exit, and Islam Slimani became an evil genius for Russia. The Africans evened the score. The draw 1 - 1 was already in favor of the Africans, and this result could send the Russians home. The goal was recorded in the 60th minute of the match.
The Russians still had half an hour left to score the winning goal, which could lead the Russian team to the playoff stage of the tournament. However, the Russians did not create a single extremely dangerous attack. We can only recall Kerzhakov's kick, but the African goalkeeper parried the ball without difficulty.
Algeria defended the last 30 minutes of the match with the whole team, building several lines of defense. Russian players over and over again could not make their way even to the penalty area of the Algerians. There were very few shots on goal. All this predetermined the final outcome of the meeting.
The final whistle of the chief referee of the match recorded the score 1 - 1. This result was another failure for the Russian team at major tournaments, because now the Russian national team is going home.
Unfortunately, once again we have to state the failure of Russian footballers to show a good level of play at major European and world tournaments. Many football experts will unanimously declare that Russia has again failed to meet expectations, although neutral fans may object, because the Russians' game was exactly at their level. Capello's team has already achieved success after entering the championship itself. At the moment, for Russians, this is the height of possibilities.
