Russia opened a new stadium in Krasnodar, which is going to be used at the World Cup in 2018. However, the Russian team recorded a defeat in their first match (friendly game) at the stadium to Costa Rica 3-4. The attendance at the match was more than 33,500 people (the stadium’s capacity is 34,291). And the defeat was the first for the new coach of the team – Stanislav Cherchesov.
Randall Azofeifa opened the score for Costa Rica after 22 minutes. He scored after a great shot from about 18 metres, but before his attempt the Russian goalkeeper made a terrible mistake passing the ball to Bryan Ruiz. Just 7 minutes later, Ruiz doubled the score after a shot from a long distance (Berezutski could have tried to intercept).
Alexander Samedov managed to score with a great diving header in the 31st minute of the match. 1-2! But, Vasili Berezutski found his own net in the stoppage time of the first half. And do you know why I am mentioning the name of the defender all the time. Because, he would have been awarded for his 100th match for the Russian national team. But because of his errors during the match (his 101st) he wasn’t given the award after the game.
To continue with, Russia put Costa Rica under pressure after the break and managed to equalize with two goals, scored by Artem Dzyuba. And it looked like the match will finish with a draw, before the clumsy challenge, made by Berezutski against Campbell inside the box in the added time of the match. The penalty kick was converted into a goal by Joel Campbel and Russia lost to Costa Rica 3-4.
In conclusion, Berezutski will have to wait people to forget his performance against Costa Rica before receiving his prestigious award. However, we mustn’t underestimate him only because of one single match. He is one of the best Russian defenders and if you remember he scored the goal against England in the stoppage time of the game at the Euro 2016.