RUSSIA 2018 - Russia wins first World Cup match against Saudi Arabia

The 2018World Cuphost country Russia kicked off their first World Cup match in style scoring early against Saudi Arabia and winning the match with five goals.

The Russian team defeated their opponentSaudi Arabia in front of an ecstatic crowd in Moscow after President Vladimir Putin officially declared the tournament open.This is really a good start for the host country and their fans hope they continue at this pace and qualify from the group stage.

The 2018 FIFA#WorldCupis currently averaging five goals per game!The perfect start for @TeamRussia! #RUSKSA#RUS#KSApic.twitter.com/jPPUiycsJD— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup)June 14, 2018Saudi Arabia didn’t score any goal against the host country.

The five goals in the match were scored by;

GAZINSKII
CHERYSHEV
DZYUBA
CHERYSHEV
GOLOVINA

fter a performance at the Opening Ceremony from British pop star Robbie Williams, Russia President Putin told the 80,000 crowd at the Luzhniki Stadium:“I congratulate all of you at the start of the most important championship in the world. Love for football unites the entire world in one team, regardless of people’s language or ideology,”Putin said to thunderous cheers fromthe capacity crowd.

Starting line-ups for the opening match of theWorld Cupbetween hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia in Group A in Moscow on Thursday (1600 GMT kick-off):RussiaIgor Akinfeev (capt), Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kupetov, Sergey Ignashevich, Iury Gazinsky, Alan Dzagoev,Roman Zobnin, Aleksandr Golovin, Yury Zhirkov, Alexander Samedov, Fedor Smolov Coach:

Stanislav Cherchesov (RUS)Saudi ArabiaAbdullah Al-Muaiouf, Osama Hawsawi (capt), Omar Hawsawi, Mohammed Al-Burayk, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Salman Al-Faraj, Yahia Al-Shehri, Abdullah Otayf, Taiseer Al-Jassam, Salem Al-Dawsari, MohammedAl-SahlawiCoach: Juan Antonio Pizzi (ESP)Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)Russia’s players have spoken a lot ahead of this game of their genuine respect for Saudi Arabia, pointing out the players’ fine technique and Pizzi’s focus on creative, short-passing football.Russia is spending more than $13 billion (11 billion euros) on hosting football’s showpiece, the most important event in the country since the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics.