[ad_1]
MOSCOW – Lengthening each part of his star-shaped body and diving to his right, Igor Akinfeev pulled out his left foot and threw the ball away from danger. Akinfeev's foot kept Russia's party Sunday night, ended the international career of one of Spain's biggest stars and sealed the tournament's biggest surprise and the One of the biggest in the history of the World Cup.
Akinfeev saved two shots during the shootout, while all of his teammates scored to give Russia a 4-3 advantage after a draw that was dominated by Spain in every way except the score of 1-1. Russia – the world's lowest ranked World Cup team – is surprisingly in the quarter-finals to face Croatia or Denmark on Saturday.
Millions of Russian fans, many of whom laughed at this team a few weeks ago, suddenly jump on the bandwagon.
"We are organizing a fantastic tournament," said Akinfeev. "I think our fans and foreign fans have recognized that we are a country that can play football and organize big events."
Akinfeev's victorious team against striker Iago Aspas shook Moscow's national stadium with nearly 70,000 Russians They celebrate the best race of their team since the Union Soviet in 1966.
It was a shocking elimination for Spain, joining the former champions of Germany and Argentina. Still, the history of the World Cup was on the side of Russia after its well-organized team survived two hours of barely having the ball.
Russia has extended a series of World Cup hosts by shooting shots at goal at five. France, South Korea, Germany and Brazil have also won shootings since 1998.
Akinfeev badured this, in the 111th captain's game of 32 years for his country.
With Spain taking first place, the shootout ended with a score of 2 to 2 when Akinfeev plunged to his right to repel Jorge's kick "Koke" Resurreccion. The midfielder of Atletico Madrid raised his shirt on his eyes with dismay.
The Russian penalty kickers were perfect against Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea. After Akinfeev stalled acrobatically from Aspas' left foot, he jumped, hit the air with both hands and dipped into a flop while crossing the rain-soaked grbad while his teammates came in the middle of the race.
"I just feel emptied," said Akinfeev. "Throughout the second half and overtime, we were defending our goal and we were leaving, we were hoping for penalties because Spain is hard to beat."
He gave Russia its best victory in 10 years. an extra win against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. This race was completed a few days later by a team from Spain that started its era of domination.
Spain has failed to win a knockout match in three major tournaments since winning the Euro 2012, its third consecutive major title after the Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010.
Source link
