It will not be easy after running out 5-0 winners in the World Cup opener after years of doubts and setbacks, but Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov wants his Russia side to forget Thursday’s win over Saudi Arabia.
“Today showed we are on the right track but we need to forget about this game … and concentrate on the next step,” he told reporters, thinking ahead to Tuesday against Egypt before a showdown with Group A favourites Uruguay in 10 days time.
A first-half hamstring injury to Alan Dzagoev had a silver lining on the night as substitute Denis Cheryshev came on to score twice, but the coach also could not hide his fear the creative midfielder could be out for the rest of the tournament.
Medical tests on Friday will tell, Cherchesov said, yet the way Dzagoev pulled up suddenly in extreme pain did not look good for the CSKA Moscow player, three days before his 28th birthday.
Looking relaxed after taking a congratulatory phone call from President Vladimir Putin, who watched in delight in the stands, Cherchesov stressed that Russia, the weakest team in the competition by FIFA ranking, have to do more than thump the second weakest to rid themselves of the under-achiever label.
There was, he said, still scope to fail to get out of the group but he also had a warning to the doubters who have watched his automatic qualifiers flounder through a diet of friendlies.
Russia, he explained, have been preparing for their moment of history in their home World Cup. “To be good is one thing,” he told reporters. “But to be good at the right time in the right place is quite another.”
He pushed back some sniping from Saudi Arabia’s Argentinian coach Juan Antonio Pizza who pronounced himself unsurprised and unimpressed by the hosts.
His tactics might have been familiar, Cherchesov said, but the performance was tighter, more disciplined and more mature than his side had shown before.
Midfielder Yuri Zhirkov said: “We played well, controlled the ball. We need to keep doing that … Cherchesov says that we did well, that it’s the first game and we need to keep going.”
Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi described a “feeling of shame” after his side suffered such a heavy defeat.
“The opposing team really didn’t have to make a huge effort to win this game,” he said after a one-sided showing that marked a dream start for the home team in front of a capacity crowd.
“We have now to forget this feeling of shame and start thinking about the next match.”
Yet given Saudi Arabia’s high turnover of coaches, including a previous mid-World Cup sacking, the Argentine-born Pizzi could well be on his way before he gets a chance to try and rectify the situation.
He conceded questions about his future after the heavy defeat were justified.
“The way I feel right now makes that a valid point but whatever happens I’ve got my philosophy and I’ll try to do as best I can. I trust in our plans and I trust in my players and I trust we’ll have a better performance in our next game,” he said.
Pizzi was appointed to the job after Saudi Arabia qualified last year for the finals. They inexplicably sacked Bert van Marwijk despite a successful campaign and then his successor Edgardo Bauza before the World Cup draw in November.
Pizzi has been in charge for the last seven months and insisted the Saudis had shown much improvement since.
“This game should not be a point of reference. We didn’t play the way we planned to. It is left to us to be positive and start thinking about the next match,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s next Group A encounter is against Uruguay in Rostov on June 20.