Russia vs. New Zealand | Confederations Cup Preview
Russia will take part in the competition for the first time. The Cherchesov’s players qualified for the Confederations Cup, because they are going to be the hosts of the World Cup in 2018. This is a very good chance for them to win a big international competition, as the biggest opponents among the other 7 teams are Portugal, Chile and Germany.
On the other hand, this will be the 4th participation in the Confederations Cup for New Zealand. However, The Whites have still not recorded a single victory in the tournament. They have only recorded a draw and 8 defeats in 9 matches, having left in the last 4th position of their groups in their previous 3 participations.
Head 2 Head
In 1982, when Russia was a part of the Soviet Union, these two teams met in the group stage of the World Cup in Spain. The result of the match was 3-0 in favour of the Soviet Union. Exactly that victory gave Sbornaya the chance to proceed from the group stage as the second-best team. However, The Red Army couldn’t make it to the semi-finals of the competition, as they left in second position of the second group stage.
The Form
The last competitive match of Russia was in the Euro 2016. Since then, Sbornaya have played 9 friendlies which were a part of their preparation for the tournament. However, Russia have only lost once in their last 5 games. They recorded prestigious draws against Belgium (3-3) and vs. Chile (1-1). Russia also beat Romania (1-0) and Hungary (3-0).
The Kiwis lost twice in a row in their last two games within 10 days. New Zealand lost to Northern Ireland and Belarus 0-1. However, that were the most serious recent matches of the Kiwis. They also play in the qualifiers for The World Cup in 2018, but their opponents are New Caledonia and Fiji. To continue with, The Kiwis will play Solomon Islands in the next stage of the qualifiers.
Key Players
The most experienced player in the Russian squad is the goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. He has won 96 caps for Sbornaya. Akinfeev has been a part of the squad in 4 European championships and 1 World Cup. The other key player in Cherchesov’s selection is Yuri Zhirkov. The former Chelsea player has appeared on 73 occasions with the colours of his nation. The top-scorer in the squad is Fyodor Smolov (7 goals for Russia).
The captain of New Zealand – Winston Reid is going to miss the competition through injury. Shane Smeltz is the most experienced player in New Zealand’s squad. He is the second best ever scorer of the Kiwis of all time. The 35-year-old forward has scored 24 goals in 55 matches, but the biggest star in the Kiwis’ team is Chris Wood of Leeds United.
The Prediction: 1-0 in favour of Russia (correct score)