Uruguay vs Russia
Venue: Samara Arena
Kick off: 3pm
Stanislav Cherchesov defended Russia’s surprising running statistics ahead of a showdown with Uruguay to decide who wins Group A.
The host nation, the lowest-ranked in the finals coming into the tournament, have surprised those watching both abroad and at home with their performances, which have guaranteed them a place in the knockout stages.
Added to that, Russia have covered more ground in the opening two rounds of the tournament than anyone else, something which brought questions in coach Cherchesov’s press conference over the figures.
“If nobody has noticed anything but the runs and sprints we’ll have to add something on,” Cherchesov said. “That’s what we’re going to do.”
“There is some inner motivation. The greatest motivation is we’re playing at home and the public supports us.”
Uruguay have won their first two games of a World Cup tournament for the first time since 1954 and stand one win away from topping the group.
Russia, however, boast a far superior goal difference, having thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 and made light work of Egypt in a 3-1 win, meaning only victory will see Uruguay finish above the hosts and avoid the winners of Group B in the process.
“We are aware that there is pressure there and we also believe that in our prior performances, we haven’t fully lived up to our potential,” Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez told reporters on the eve of their final Group A fixture.
“But we face that with calmness. We have had these situations before. In the Copa America in 2011, it was a similar situation, there were matches where we were far from brilliant.
“We knew in the first knockout rounds you could not fail there and we had to face Argentina, but we won in the end.”