unsatisfying victory for Russia over Liechtenstein

Prior to Russia’s match against Liechtenstein, Yuri Zhirkov noted that he would be satisfied with a 1-0 victory. While the CSKA Moskva star got precisely what he wanted with the scoreline surely this will be regarded as extremely disappointing result by Russia. Coupled with the highly modest performance against Azerbaijan at Luzhniki Stadium the question needs to be asked if Guus Hiddink can handle double duties with Chelsea because this side is far from the one at the Euro 2008.

The Russian side, bolstered with the return of Lokomotiv Moskva’s Dmitri Torbinski to the lineup showed a modest increase of attacking pulse but it should be added against tiny Liechtenstein much more was expected. After a reasonable effort by the Lokomotiv man four minutes prior to the half-hour, Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Konstantin Zyryanov accepted Andrei Arshavin’s provision and sent the ball to the back of the net from seven metres. While Russia was in desperate need for an insurance goal but it was Liechtenstein who was the aggressor in the later stages as Fabio D’Elia and Thomas Beck both force Igor Akinfeev in match-saving saves.

Russia returns to play against Finland in the second week of June.