It might seem that the World Cup still continues to many Saransk residents. There are songs and dances on the city streets, fans in national team shirts, and a real sold-out on the stadium. Mordovia Arena has not seen so many visitors since the end of the world championship – almost 43 thousand spectators in the stands. Residents raised such a stir because of the arrival of the national team, they witnessed a historic victory: Russia won San Marino with a record score of 9:0.
The previous record was 23 years old when Russia beat San Marino with a score of 7:0. It is noteworthy that before the Saransk meeting, these teams met only twice. Russia won both times, Stanislav Cherchesov defended the gate.
San Marino is considered one of the weakest teams in the world. Mentor Cherchesov reassured journalists that there are no weak and strong opponents for the team. “For all the games we need to prepare equally well,” – the words of the coach, according to Sportbox.ru.
Russia took the lead in the match from the first minutes, but the score was opened only in the 25th minute. Chevoli scored an own goal, five minutes later, team captain Artem Dzyuba doubled the lead from the penalty spot. In the time remaining before the break, Kudryashov and Miranchuk also scored goals.
After the break, the teams played for half an hour without goals. But after the 73rd minute, a real hail of scored goals began. Dzyuba and Smolov scored five goals twenty minutes before the final whistle. Russia won the match with its best result, and 23 players inscribed themselves in history.
The head coach of San Marino admitted defeat and considered that it was impossible to fight with the Russian team. “When will we play as equals with Russia? These times will come when there will be no place for us in this world,” Franco Varella joked at the post-match press conference. Mentor noticed the players of the Russian national team, who stopped celebrating the last goals in deference to the opponent.
After a successful performance at the World Championships, the fans stopped criticizing the national team for unsuccessful performances, even the failure at the National League did not upset them. In one year, Stanislav Cherchesov turned the most closed team into a friendly and open for fans and the press. Mentor uncoupled the national team from the “Luzhniki” and home qualifying matches for Euro 2020 are held in all cities of the past World Cup.
A change of generations, which painfully affects many teams, brought success to Russia. A year ago, there were no young and decent players in the national team, but now promising players do not have enough seats in the first team. Cherchesov constantly justifies himself for the lack of a player in the start.
The interest of Russians in football has raised the statistics of visiting matches: the Russian team plays at home with full house, even if the opponent is San Marino. Artem Dzyuba became a universal favorite, and his gesture became a meme.
