MOSCOW, July 2, 2018 (BSS/TASS) – A great patience and enormous preparations work served as the only antidote to fend off the offensive play of the Spanish national team and snatch the win at the round of Last 16 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Russian midfielder Alexander Samedov said.
The Russian national football team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup after edging Spain on 4-3 penalties’ win following 1-1 draw in the main time and the scoreless overtime period of the spectacular match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday night.
“On the whole, it was a fantastic game and the result as we showed our dedication and executed the match plan,” Samedov told journalists. “We are certainly very proud to enjoy the victory over the 2010 world champions and this is a very fantastic result.”
“The Spanish squad is a very outstanding team, which play in a total control of the ball,” Samedov said. “We needed a lot of patience and had to execute all of our rough work, but it was the only antidote against such team.”
While the Spanish team is preparing to return home, the Russian squad is set to play in the quarterfinals on July 7 at the Fisht Stadium in the resort city of Sochi against Croatia, which also defeated on the penalty shootout the team from Denmark on late Sunday night in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
A total of 32 national football teams entered the 2018 FIFA World Cup and only 16 of them proceeded to the knockout phase after the group stage, which kicked off on June 14 and ended on June 28.
According to FIFA’s official statistics, the total number of fans at all stadiums during 48 matches of the group stage came to 2,178,894 people, which carries an average of 45,394 at each match.
The 48 already played matches out of all scheduled 64 games at this World Cup saw 122 scored goals (2.54 per match on the average), with the national team of Belgium scoring the most in its three group stage matches (nine goals)