FIFA WC 2018: Key takeaways from Russia vs Saudi Arabia match

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Bengaluru, June 15: Hosts Russia began the FIFA World Cup 2018 with a bang smashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 in Moscow on Thursday (June 14).

Here Mykhel looks at key points to emerge out of the match between Russia and Saudi Arabia in Group A.

1 Russia, a terrible side?

Russia are the lowest-ranked side in the tournament and nobody has taken any interest in them. And that includes the locals who have marked this Russian side "doomed to fail."

Of course, Group A is the softest group in this World Cup and Russia's effort against Saudi, who lack exposure to European football, is not a real reflection of their depth or talent. But it is a good first step and confidence booster for team members ahead of sterner tests.

2 A Pyrrhic victory

Of course, Russia won with a big margin as you will not get 5-0 often. Cheryshev was the star cast with a brace and others too chipped in during well-oiled machine. But the win was marred by an injury to midfielder Alan Dzagoev, who limped out of the field in the 23rd minute. It looked like a hamstring injury and the 27-year-old's World Cup looks all but over. What more, he had also limped out of the 2016 Euro with an injury.

3 Emergence of Golovin

The 22-year-old CSKA Moscow is a fine talent and is under the European scouts' radar for sometime now. He could not have selected a better platform to showcase his skills. His presence was strong in the goals of Yuri Gazinskiy and Artem Dzyuba and eventually Golovin also wrote his name on the scoresheet through Russia's fifth goal.

4 Saudi's lack of exposure

Saudi Arabia have produced some good footballing talents in the past such as Saeed al-Owairan. But they never left the shores of their country in pursuit of footballing excellence. A stint with some European clubs would have made them sharper and the current team too suffers from that insularity. They gave occasional glimpses of their talent against Russia but there was no consistency of cohesion.

Within Saudi or in the regional qualification matches such efforts would have fetched them some results but not at the football's grandest stage. Hopefully, they change the course soon.