The Russian national team came to the championship of the planet in mini-football in Lithuania with the rank of the current vice-world champion.
This time, Sergei Skorovich's wards were eager to bring the country the first ever World Cup gold.
During the World Cup, the national team has repeatedly confirmed the status of one of the main favorites.
In the group stage, he won three wins with a total score of 17: 3.
Egypt suffered the most, conceding nine unanswered goals in the opening match.
But Uzbekistan managed to compete and held a draw up to the 35th minute, but in the end it could not oppose anything to Artyom Niyazov, who scored a hat-trick - 2: 4.
Finally, Guatemala suffered the expected defeat - 1: 4.
The rival in the 1/8 finals, the Russians also got a not very high-status - Vietnam.
Although the Asians fought with dignity, they still lost - 2: 3.
One got the impression that Skorovich's charges acted with a fair amount of energy savings.
Plus, the injured Eder Lima did not take part in the matches.
However, in the quarterfinals, they already got a serious opponent - the reigning world champion Argentina.
It was albiseleste who beat Russia in the final of the previous World Cup - 5: 4.
In Lithuania, Our Boys had a great opportunity to take revenge.
However, the South Americans passed the previous stages of the tournament in one breath: four wins with a total score of 23: 4.
Even the first round of the playoffs, they overcame without problems, defeating Paraguay - 6: 1.
From the first minutes it became clear that this time it was not worth waiting for such a productive game as five years ago from the teams.
Rather, it was about football chess.
The tension in such a crucial match was high, and the cost of any mistake increased several times.
The Argentines immediately suppressed the Russians with their trademark high pressure, which turned out to be very difficult to get out of.
In addition, traditional Latin American tricks were used: holds, pushes, surreptitious blows and provocations.
Unfortunately, Skorovich's charges reacted to them.
Even the usually calm Andrei Afanasyev in the very opening of the meeting almost pounced on the entire bench of opponents with his fists.
Next Danil Davydov knocked about with Christian Borruto and saw a yellow card in front of him.
The beginning as a whole turned out to be not very successful for the national team. The team could not establish ball control in any way, and the tactics with forward throws on powerful pillars did not justify themselves. In addition, unnecessary rule violations were committed one by one. As a result, by the middle of the half, “our guys” had five fouls in their liabilities, and any next one before the break ended with a penalty kick. Of course, in such a situation, one had to act with extreme caution.
On the plus side, it is worth noting the return of Lima, which had never entered the site in Lithuania before.
With the advent of the naturalized Brazilian, there was much more specificity in the attack.
One of the top scorers of the previous World Cup actively clung to the ball and created, perhaps, the most dangerous moment for the national team in the first half.
The striker famously left the guardian's guardianship and delivered a powerful blow to the far corner.
The rivals were miraculously saved by Nicholas Sarmiento.
The Argentines missed their chance a little earlier.
Angel Claudino ran away to a rendezvous with Dmitry Putilov, but shot straight in his leg.
In general, Sinara's goalkeeper acted extremely reliably.
And in the second half, the position of Russia became even more critical, since the reigning world champions, four minutes after its start, still opened an account. It is not surprising that in a game that is not rich in chances, the standard position helped one of the sides excel. Moreover, the judge Anthony Riley appointed a rather controversial free kick. Captain Sergei Abramov, insuring his partner, touched Leandro Cuzzolino, and he immediately fell. At the same time, a little earlier, the referee took the side of Argentina in similar situations. As a result, the victim himself inflicted an unbearable blow into the far corner.
After the incident, the domestic team could not come to their senses for a long time. It seemed that the players simply did not understand how they could hack the rich defense of the opponent. And the reigning champions of the planet played with the utmost selflessness. They, literally throwing themselves under the ball, managed to block almost all the shots in the tackles. The experienced Damian Stazzone was especially good, who did not allow the Russian attackers to take a single step. Yes, and Sarmiento at the last line clearly caught the courage.
But Skorovich's charges had enough time to save themselves.
And the work on the bench did not stop for a second.
For example, Lima began to spend much more time on the court.
And the main thing is that the naturalized Brazilian gradually "took aim" at other people's gates.
One of the most productive footballers of the national championship, Artyom Antoshkin, also added energy ahead.
The Argentines, on the other hand, gradually began to leave their forces, because it is incredibly difficult to act in such an energy-consuming style for all 40 minutes.
From here came the violations of the rules.
And now the opponent, six minutes before the end of regular time, earned the fifth foul.
And the Russians who felt weakness still put the squeeze on albiseleste.
And it is symbolic that it was Antoshkin who managed to equalize the score.
After entering the ball from out-of-bounds by Ivan Chishkala, the forward literally pushed the projectile past Sarmiento.
The South Americans took the challenge, but the replay showed that the footballer did not touch the goalkeeper's hands with his foot and played absolutely clean.
In the future, the vice-champions of the planet could well put the squeeze on the opponent both in the main and in extra time.
So, at the beginning of the first five-minute session, Skorovich's team created several dangerous moments one after another.
And soon came the "X hour".
Lucas Bolo-Alemani at someone else's face for some reason broke the rules on Yanar Asadov and presented the Russian team with a ten-meter one.
It was a great opportunity to put an end to the confrontation.
The victim himself went to execute the penalty, but the shot was unsuccessful.
The striker tried to send the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper, but Sarmiento, who had an incredible match, guessed his plan.
Despite this, Skorovich's team continued to push.
The Argentines have no strength left at all.
Moreover, for them any new foul could still become a sentence.
And in this situation, Matthias Raul Lucuis took an incredible risk.
A few minutes before the end of extra time, he changed the goalkeeper to the fifth field.
And this tactic paid off.
The Russians failed to punish the opponent, and the Argentines calmly controlled the ball until the very end.
Well, the penalty shootout turned into a drama. As part of the national team, the powerful Georgy Zamtaradze, as expected, entered the "lottery". But he could not help the national team in any way and missed all three first blows. In addition, Captain Abramov did not realize his attempt. The headquarters immediately returned Putilov to the gate, and it worked. First, the main character of the meeting, Stazzone, struck the post, and then Dmitry himself parried a powerful shot from Kuzzolino.
If Chishkal had been scored next, Russia would have made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the second time in a row.
However, the footballer, who played not the best game, ingeniously struck at a comfortable height for the goalkeeper, and Sarmiento again saved Argentina.
Then came the series until the first miss, and, unfortunately, it was allowed by Romulo, who did not appear on the court after the first half.
Another save Sarimento put an end to this match and helped Argentina continue the hike for the second title in a row.
The national team goes home after the quarterfinals.