A
late goal by Sergio Aguero lifted Argentina to a 1-0 win over World Cup hosts
Russia in the inaugural match at Moscow’s newly-renovated Luzhniki stadium on
Saturday.
Aguero’s header found the
back of the net in the 86th minute, the striker beating veteran goalkeeper Igor
Akinfeev after his initial shot was blocked by the Russian defence.
Led by team captain Lionel
Messi, Argentina were dynamic from the start of the friendly but were unable to
capitalise on their chances in the first half.
Argentina’s attack expertly
combined to generate several scoring chances, with Messi finding Angel Di Maria
in the box in the 36th minute.
But the Paris St Germain
midfielder could not control the ball.
“Some of the things that we
planned worked in this clash against this tough opponent,” Argentina manager
Jorge Sampaoli told reporters.
“We played in a courageous,
bold manner. We created resistance to the pressure our opponent put us under.
We need to build on this.”
Konstantin Rausch kept
Russia alive in the opening minutes of the second half by heading the ball off
the line after Messi had chipped Akinfeev.
Although they regrouped in
the second half, Russia struggled to keep possession, heavily relying on
Akinfeev to deny the Argentine attack.
Russia tested Argentina for
the first time in the 61st minute with a short-range shot by Denis Glushakov
tapped away by goalkeeper Sergio Romero before defender German Pezzella cleared
the ball. “We knew that it would be a tough match and that we wouldn’t have
possession in some moments,” Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov said.
“I think our defence played
correctly from a tactical point of view but we were unable to start quality
attacks, especially in the first half, when we had the ball.”
Argentina’s friendly against
Russia was the first test match held at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, the venue
for the opening game and final of next year’s World Cup.
Originally opened in 1956,
Luzhniki was one of the venues for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
It hosted the 2013 world
athletics championships before being closed for renovations to prepare it for
the World Cup.
Argentina play Nigeria in
the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, which will not host any World Cup
matches next year, on Nov. 14.
Russia face Spain in a
friendly in St Petersburg on the same day.
NAN
No comments:
Post a Comment