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Algeria comes back to draw Russia, advance to Round of 16

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By RYAN TOLMICH

Needing a draw and trailing a goal, Algeria was going to have to earn its place in the tournament’s next stage.

That is exactly what the Algerians did, as Islam Slimani’s 60th-minute equalizer earned the Desert Foxes a 1-1 draw with Russia and, more importantly, a spot in the tournament’s Round of 16.

Algeria had its back against the wall from the beginning. It took just six minutes for Russia to open the scoring by way of Aleksandr Kokorin. The 23-year-old smashed home a textbook header off a Dmitriy Kombarov cross to give the Russian’s the 1-0 lead and the advantage in the standings.

The Russians continued to sit on their lead until the game’s 60th minute, when Slimani headed Algeria back into the lead. Algeria midfielder Yacine Brahim played a dangerous cross from a free kick, and Slimani converted to give the Algerians all they would need to advance.

From there, Algeria was content to protect its hard earned draw by spending the game’s waning moments in a defensive shell to waste time. Even unused substitute Liassine Cadamuro found his way into the referee’s book for time-wasting.

Algeria will now turn toward the tournament’s knockout round, where it will face its toughest task on Monday in Porto Alegre. The Desert Foxes will now be tasked with taming championship contenders Germany, which emerged on top of group G with seven points.

Comments

  1. Perhaps could have been avoided if Capello didn’t hate the team’s most creative player and played him more than 15 minutes a night.

    Reply
    • Capello seems to hate creativity in general. My Word, the Russkies are one boring side to watch. They’re like Arsenal Lite…Possession With Absolutely No Purpose Whatsoever.

      They do knock the rock around well. But at that, they weren’t much different than South Korea or Japan, who likewise pass the ball around well and have pretty much zero when it comes to the final third.

      Soccer by the absolute, boring numbers. If you can’t advance from a group that also includes Algeria and South Korea – and you tie both – you really aren’t For Real.

      Reply
  2. Not a particularly impressive World Cup campaign from the Russians. They need do well in either the Euros or the next Confederations Cup to generate some excitement going into 2018.

    Reply
    • The Russian team has been hot garbage for a long time. There was an illusion of ability in Euro 2008 based on a solitary extra time win over NED (yeah they beat Sweden and Greece in a pair of ugly matches… big deal). Spain punked them twice with ease and in hindisght it’s no surprise.

      The “genius” Arshavin went to Arsenal and got found out almost as fast as he found out about Burger King. The actual genius was Hiddink, and that’s nothing new.

      Eff Russia. Rubbish side.

      Reply

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