Russian Coach Cherchesov Licks Wounds Ahead Of World Cup

Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Mar, 2018 ) :World Cup hosts Russia were licking their wounds after successive beatings by Brazil and France exposed dire shortcomings ahead of the June kickoff to the international football extravaganza.

It was a month to forget for coach Stanislav Cherchesov and fans desperate to see their team make it past the World Cup group stage for the first time since the Soviet era. As well as the two defeats, racism reared its ugly head in Russian football once again, as French players Paul Pogba and Ousman Dembele were allegedly subjected to monkey chants on Tuesday.

The month began with bad news for Cherchesov as two starting defenders and a striker all suffered identical knee injuries that have ruled them out of the World Cup.

The impact of their absence was on vivid display in a 3-0 loss to Brazil on Friday in Moscow and 3-1 defeat by France in Saint Petersburg.

France's Kylian Mbappe made Russia's backline look pedestrian while scoring two and silencing the crowd of 50,000. And only some instinctive saves from veteran goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev had averted added humiliation as Russia were totally outplayed by Brazil.

"Except for Akinfeev and one or two others, I simply do not see anyone who can play at a high level at a tournament such as a World Cup," former Russia coach Oleg Romantsev lamented.