The Russian national team played against Cuba for the first time in history. Karpin’s team defeated the opponent with a score of 8:0

The Russian team defeated the Cuban national team in a friendly match. Lenta.ru reports this.

The meeting took place in Volgograd at the Volgograd Arena stadium and ended with a score of 8:0. In the 22nd minute, midfielder Ivan Oblyakov opened the scoring. In the 30th minute, the team’s advantage was increased by midfielder and team captain Alexander Golovin. Midfielder Anton Miranchuk scored in the 34th minute. With this score the team went to the break.

In the second half, the national team continued to attack the opponent. In the 55th minute, defender Alexander Silyanov scored. Then the goals were scored by forward Alexander Sobolev (66th minute), midfielder Danil Prutsev (68th minute), midfielder Nikita Krivtsov (74th minute) and midfielder Andrei Mostovoy (78th minute).

A victory over the Cubans will count toward the FIFA rankings.

The Russian national team has not competed in international tournaments since February 2022 due to sanctions from the International Football Federation and the Union of European Football Associations. At the same time, the Russian Football Union said that the meeting with the Cuban national team will be taken into account in the FIFA rankings. The head coach of the Russian national team, Valery Karpin, drew attention to this, noting that six substitutions were made in the match, which means it is official.

In addition, State Duma deputy Amir Khamitov appealed to FIFA due to the suspension of Russian teams, drawing attention to the usefulness of the team. Khamitov called for the return of Russian clubs and the Russian national team to international tournaments.

Another advantage of the friendly match was reported by the former striker of Lokomotiv and Dynamo Moscow, as well as the Russian national team, Dmitry Bulykin. The former athlete emphasized that this is the only outlet for fans in such difficult times.

Honorary President of the RFU Vyacheslav Koloskov drew attention to the fact that no one can criticize the team for a lack of motivation and desire. In his opinion, by performing professionally and lively, the national team shows its class.

Experts discussed the feasibility of the match

Before the meeting, the legendary football player of the Russian national team, Alexander Mostovoy, said that the Russian team should crush their opponents from Cuba into dust.

According to Mostovoy, if the Russians had not won this match, it would have been a shame.

Former USSR national team football player Anzor Kavazashvili also drew attention to the optionality of the meeting. In his opinion, Cuba is far from the strongest team in the world, so beating it shouldn’t be too difficult. The ex-athlete emphasized that he does not understand how Karpin will be able to motivate players for friendly matches.

The Russian national team has never played with Cuba in history

The USSR Olympic team met the Cubans once, beating them in the group stage of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow with a score of 8:0. The match took place as part of the third round of the group stage of the tournament. The defeat was the largest in history for the Cubans, but allowed the team to reach the playoffs, just like the Soviet players.