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Thursday June 26th - 2:00PM | ||
ALGERIA |
vs | RUSSIA | |
| FIFA RANKING 25 | FIFA RANKING 18 | ||
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| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
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| ALGERIA After a so-so South Africa 2010 and a poor 2013 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Algeria missed very few beats on their way to Brazil 2014. They won five of their six group matches to easily top what might have been a tricky section over Mali, Benin and Rwanda. Once in the final play-off round, they were unlucky to draw one of the continents form teams in Burkina Faso, who shocked Africa by finishing second at the 2013 AFCON. In that tie, they lost the first leg 3-2 to a late penalty, but just claimed the place in Brazil with a professional 1-0 win at home that gave them the advantage on away goals. RUSSIA Drawn alongside Portugal, Russia were not favourites to win Group F and earn direct passage to Brazil 2014. Expectations soon shifted after a perfect start to their campaign, as the Russians kicked off with wins over Northern Ireland and Israel. Having set the tone, Fabio Capello’s side then revealed their ambitions by beating the Portuguese in Moscow courtesy of a solitary Alexander Kerzhakov goal. A narrow 1-0 defeat of Azerbaijan made it four wins out of four, at which point the Russians stumbled, losing to Portugal away and then going down unexpectedly to the Northern Irish in a fixture that had to be rescheduled due to bad weather. With the Portuguese breathing down their necks, Capello’s charges had no option but to react, which they did, sandwiching a home win over Israel with two defeats of Luxembourg. That run that left them needing only a draw away to the Azeris to book their return to the world finals, a result they duly secured. |
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RECENT RESULTS |
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| ALGERIA | RUSSIA | ||
| 17/06/14 - BELGIUM 2-1 ALGERIA 05/03/14 - ALGERIA 1-0 BURKINA FASO 19/11/13 - BURKINA FASO 3-2 ALGERIA |
17/06/14 - RUSSIA 1-1 REP. KOREA 15/10/13 - AZERBAIJAN 1-1 RUSSIA 11/10/13 - LUXEMBORG 0-4 RUSSIA |
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| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| ALGERIA Madjid Bougherra is a key figure at the back, and he scored the all-important winner in the second leg against Burkina Faso. Sofiane Feghouli is an exciting attacking midfielder, while Medhi Lacen holds things down in front of the defence. Islam Slimani emerged as the most prolific option in attack during qualifying. |
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| RUSSIA This latest Russian side is built on solid defensive foundations. Goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev did not miss a single minute of the qualifying competition and conceded just five goals during the course of it, while Sergey Ignashevich marshalled the defence with aplomb. Yet Fabio Capello’s most prized assets can be found in what is a technically gifted and astute midfield unit, where Roman Shirokov and Victor Fayzulin have continued to hone the partnership they have forged at Zenit St Petersburg, scoring six goals between them in the qualifiers. Perhaps not surprisingly, the team’s top scorer was Kerzhakov. Though not always a starter, the Zenit striker helped himself to five goals during the campaign, the most important of them being that winner against the Portuguese. A lethal finisher, the former Sevilla man could wreak havoc in Brazil. |
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