Translated material
Mobile laboratory
Guus Hiddink got carried away by entertaining experiments and did not win against an outsider
Having lost their chance for first place in the qualifying group for the World Championship and, accordingly, a direct ticket to South Africa, the Russian team did not become greedy and arranged a celebration for its last opponent. Guus Hiddink's team drew with the Azerbaijani team - 1:1, having done everything possible for this and not even taking a penalty in the last minutes.How Guus Hiddink felt. He initially emphasized that the result of the match in Baku was practically unimportant for him and all his thoughts were now occupied with the November play-offs. They will find a specific direction only on Monday, when the Russians' opponent will be determined during the draw. The choice will be from four teams: Ukraine, which defeated Andorra yesterday (6:0), Ireland, Bosnia and one of the pair Slovakia - Slovenia (the games in their group ended at night). The match with Azerbaijan was a timely reminder that it would not be easy against any of Russia’s opponents, despite the high rating and status of the “seeded” team.
But yesterday, Guus Hiddink, not yet knowing with whom the lot would bring him together, sitting comfortably on the bench of the Tofik Bahramov Stadium, decided to experiment with the composition. However, he had no other choice. The head coach of the Russian national team initially stated that in a match devoid of tournament significance, he would not take risks and release players with yellow cards onto the field. Alexander Anyukov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Yuri Zhirkov, Igor Semshov and Roman Pavlyuchenko, who, if they received a warning in Baku, were threatened with disqualification for one play-off match, in order to avoid temptations, they were not even included in the team’s application. The recently married Vasily Berezutsky, who was also on the card, did not fly to this match at all.
But at the same time, Hiddink did not dare to throw two new recruits into battle - Dmitry Tarasov and Oleg Kuzmin, called up to the team the day before. There was immediately a shortage of defenders in the lineup, which was filled by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - it was him who the Dutchman sent to the left edge of the defense. This was not the only tactical idea that Hiddink worked out in Baku. The wing midfielders Bystrov and Torbinsky, constantly changing flanks with each other, a pair of small forwards Arshavin - Dzagoev, who acted without the support of Hiddink’s beloved “pillars”, and the 4-4-2 scheme... The head coach of the national team had to see enough of all this for an hour and a half of playing time in full.
At the same time, the Russian team seemed to want to achieve an acceptable result for itself. Not to mention the Azerbaijani national team. In other circumstances, the hosts could only dream of a draw with a team from the top ten of the FIFA rankings. And then an opponent arrives, unmotivated by the tournament situation, whose main task for the match is not to pick up yellow cards and not get unnecessary injuries.
At first, the class of the Russians was more important than the wishes of the owners. Already at the beginning of the first half, Dzagoev received the ball on the outskirts of the penalty area, slowly walked around the defender and lightly shot. The goalkeeper still decided not to catch the ball, but to hit it, and did it so unsuccessfully that Arshavin could only miss the empty goal - 0:1.
And only then did the Azerbaijani national team give Akinfeev a chance to prove that he is indisputably the number one of Hiddink’s team. The Russian goalkeeper entered the game several times, and the hosts' two shots in the first half were quite dangerous. And the second one began with an excellent long-range strike from Javadov - Akinfeev pulled the ball out of the top nine.
Javadov's next shot already turned out to be an assist. The Russian team's defense made way for the leader of the home team, and he struck from mid-range. The ball bounced in front of Akinfeev and flew into the corner - 1:1. The missed goal, however, did not inspire the Russian team to heroic deeds. Even when the tired Azerbaijanis stood up, the guests did not make any special attempts to achieve victory. The only one who tried was Dzagoev, who unexpectedly earned a penalty. Ignashevich's shot from the 11-meter mark was not strong, and Agayev coped with it.
A draw with one of the outsiders in the group is not the whole sad result of the match. In an optional game, the Russians managed to receive three warnings. Semak, Yanbaev and Torbinsky received yellow cards. Before the play-offs, which will take place on November 14 and 18, Guus Hiddink will have a few more reasons to worry.