In extreme conditions: Hovhannisyan's goal and Akgatsev's saves helped the Russian national team draw in Egypt

One shot on target and knockdown at the start

The Russian national team arrived in Suez with a rejuvenated squad - the senior players will play with Qatar on September 12. Valery Karpin fielded nine debutants at once - before that, only Oleksandr Kovalenko and Daniil Khlusevich took to the field in matches for the first team. The defender of Spartak, who has recently been sitting on the bench, received the captain's armband and carried it almost the entire meeting - only in the end it passed to goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev.

However, the main problem that evening was not the lack of teamwork and experience of playing under the banner of the national team, but the weather conditions. During the visit of the Russians in Egypt, a terrible heat was established - the air warmed up to 38 degrees. According to Spartak midfielder Daniil Denisov, it was really difficult to play.

"One of the most difficult conditions in which I played football in my life. Egypt was probably more adapted to this kind of weather, but that shouldn't be an excuse for us. In the second half, it was better to get out of defense, the pressure worked well. No one has any problems with the mood. We play for the national team, it doesn't matter who comes out against you. This is a national team, "the Championship quotes Denisov as saying.

The players were saved by frequent breaks for a watering hole and regular substitutions - at the end of the meeting, only Vladislav Torop remained unclaimed on the bench, who, obviously, will get his chance in the second round of sparring. Also, our fans drove the players forward - there were almost more of them in the stands than the fans of the hosts.

The coaching staff of the Russian national team chose the 4-3-3 formation, in which almost all the players were located in their native positions. The only exception was Danila Prokhin, who plays the functions of a central defender in Rostov, and on Thursday appeared on the field in the defensive zone. Prokhin did a huge amount of work in the first half, constantly moving, and therefore his replacement should not be surprised.

From the first minutes, the Russians tried to suppress the opponent with pressure, but problems with discipline often nullified all efforts. As a result, in the 7th minute, the hosts opened the scoring: Ahmed Otto passed a penetrating pass to the flank, Mahmoud Saber tried to shoot into touch, but the ball ricocheted into the center of the penalty area, where Viktor Alexandrov did not have time to cover Bilal Majer.

The Egyptians had a territorial advantage until the break and tried to stretch the visitors' defense with the help of distant diagonals. Free zones in the ranks of Valery Karpin's team arose from time to time, but the goal strike remained the only one that was inflicted on the target of Akgatsev's goal.

However, the Russians did not indulge in a bright attacking game either: for the entire first half, they managed to disturb the opponent's goalkeeper only once. It happened even with an equal score, when Tamerlan Musayev received the ball in the center of the penalty area and made a pass to Daniil Kuznetsov, but Mohamed El-Sayed rescued his partners.

Successful substitutions and energetic Saltykov

During the break, Valery Karpin did not change the defensive line, but made five changes in midfield and attack at once. Alexander Kovalenko, Dmitry Vasiliev, Yaroslav Gladyshev, Danila Prokhin and Daniil Kuznetsov left the field, and Nikita Saltykov, Nikita Ermakov, Kirill Kravtsov, Stepan Hovhannisyan and Yaroslav Mikhailov came out in their place.

As it turned out, the mentor completely guessed with the permutations, and Saltykov entered the game especially well. In the course of the entire second half, the 19-year-old Krylia Sovetov player unnerved the opponent's defense on the right flank, boldly burst into the penalty area and scored a shot on target. Even the former striker of the Russian national team Igor Kolyvanov was impressed by Nikita's game.

"The game opened up only in the second half. The guys did a great job, they had a chance to win. Stanislav Agkatsev helped the team out in the end. I don't want to demand anything from them: they have just gathered in this composition. I would not like to mention anyone, but I will say about Saltykov. He was very diligent today, "Kolyvanov told RT.

It was Nikita who organized the return ball of the Russians: the teams did not have time to return to the field from the locker rooms, as El-Sayed let the ball go far away from him in his own penalty area, Saltykov put the body, robbed it and shot at the goal, but the goalkeeper coped. However, the ball flew to Stepan Hovhannisyan. The Orenburg football player was not at a loss and scored his debut ball for the national team with his second touch.

After the score became equal, the initiative passed to the Russians. The wards of Valery Karpin moved to the other half of the field in large numbers and actively pressed the opponent. The Egyptians were "locked" near their own penalty area - even long passes did not help to get out of pressure.

In the 64th minute, Valery Karpin made two more substitutions, and the next dangerous shot at the goal of the hosts was struck by Vladislav Shitov, who came on instead of Tamerlan Musaev. And after a short time, the goalkeeper of the Egyptians made a gross mistake on the way out when giving a corner, but the ball hit the same post twice in a row after Viktor Melekhin's shots.

At first, Stanislav Agkatsev had a little work, but in the end, the Krasnodar goalkeeper helped out our team in two difficult episodes. And between them, the Egyptians disturbed the frame of our goal: the ball hit the post after a free-kick.

At the end of the match, Valery Karpin was dissatisfied with the actions of the defense, and also admitted that he had not yet remembered the names of all the players of the rejuvenated national team. There is nothing surprising in this: a total of 18 players made their debut for the first national team on Thursday.

The second meeting with the Egyptian Olympic team will take place on September 11, but the head coach will no longer be on the sidelines: Karpin will fly to Qatar, where the next day the "adult" Russians will have to play another friendly game.