Russia are hosting this Confederations Cup and they have high hopes in this tournament. Cherchesov has named his strongest squad available for this tournament, and even though they don`t have many stars, they have been looking pretty solid lately.
Since they are the hosts of the 2018 World Cup they have been playing only friendlies over the last nine months. They started slowly, by losing to Costa Rica and Qatar, but they picked up their form, losing only once in the next five games. High scoring draw against Belgium was one of the highlights, with 3:0 against Hungary and 1:1 with Chile also standing out as successful results, Against Chile they were pretty solid, leaving only possession to their opponents, while being equal in every other aspect of the play. After goalless first half with couple of chances from both sides, Chile took the lead in 56th minute via Isla, after a great assist from Sanchez.
Date: Saturday, June 17
Time: 4 p.m. (BST)/ 11 a.m. ET
TV: ITV1 (UK only), Fox Sports 1 (U.S. only)
However, Russia were determined to answer, and after period of pressure, Vasin scored in 67th minute following a corner. It stayed that way until the end, which was the fair outcome. As I already said, this Russia are a team without many stars, with captain Akinfeev, Zhirkov, Glushakov and Samedov standing out as most recognizable names.
New Zealand are coming into this tournament as champions of Oceania. They earned that title by beating Papua New Guinea in
June of last year on penalties, after the game finished 0:0. They have progressed from their WC qualification group, having
won three and drawn one, without conceding a single goal. However, those games were against New Caledonia and Fiji, and I
think there is no need to say anything more about that.They played two friendlies during the last two weeks – against
Northern Ireland and Belarus. They lost both games 1:0, having been completely dominated and recording only one shot at
goal in total.
New Zealand are coming into this tournament as champions of Oceania. They earned that title by beating Papua New Guinea in
June of last year on penalties, after the game finished 0:0. They have progressed from their WC qualification group, having
won three and drawn one, without conceding a single goal. However, those games were against New Caledonia and Fiji, and I
think there is no need to say anything more about that.They played two friendlies during the last two weeks – against
Northern Ireland and Belarus. They lost both games 1:0, having been completely dominated and recording only one shot at
goal in total.
They are focusing their game on tight defense, but they regularly have problem creating chances. They even
played 0:0 while visiting New Caledonia and having faced even slightly stronger teams, they were completely powerless and
out of idea. New Zealand don`t have any stars, with majority of their players playing in Australian League, while Leeds
United`s Chris Wood stands out as the most recognizable name.
played 0:0 while visiting New Caledonia and having faced even slightly stronger teams, they were completely powerless and
out of idea. New Zealand don`t have any stars, with majority of their players playing in Australian League, while Leeds
United`s Chris Wood stands out as the most recognizable name.
Russia vs New Zealand stats
This is the first ever international football meeting between these countries
New Zealand are contesting the Confederations Cup for the fourth time and have lost eight of their nine previous matches in the competition
The only time they avoided defeat was a 0-0 draw with Iraq in 2009
New Zealand are contesting the Confederations Cup for the fourth time and have lost eight of their nine previous matches in the competition
The only time they avoided defeat was a 0-0 draw with Iraq in 2009
Possible Line UP
Russia Probable lineup (3-5-2): Akinfeev, Kudryashov, Vasin, Shishkin, Kombarov, Glushakov, Golovin, Gazinsky, Samedov, Smolov, Poloz.
New Zeland Probable lineup (5-3-2): Marinovic, Colvey, Boxall, Durante, Tzimopoulos, Wynne, McGlinchey, Rojas, Thomas, Smeltz, Wood
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