The Russian national football team completed its September training camp with an away draw with team of Qatar. The meeting at the El-Janub stadium ended with the score 1:1.
Information support for the match by the Qatar Football Association (QFA) was shrouded in secrecy. Until the last minute, the host side delayed the official announcement of the fact and location of the game, and after that, for several days, it methodically ignored journalists’ requests. On the day of the match alone, the national association reported that about 10 thousand fans were expected at the game. The forecast was ultimately exceeded — 13,835 fans gathered in the stands. The QFA also explained why one of the most remote and logistically inconvenient stadiums that hosted matches of the 2022 World Cup was chosen to host the match.
Al Janoub was chosen to host the match between Qatar and Russia because other arenas are hosting club competitions on those days. This stadium is not Plan B. This is a World Cup stadium that was accessible and ready to host the match in terms of infrastructure and the condition of the pitch,” the association’s press service said.
Before the game, unverified information appeared that the national anthems of the countries would not be played before the match. One could assume that there is some kind of political subtext in this and the Qataris do not want to attract undue attention to themselves from the collective West. In fact, the fears were not confirmed — the Russian anthem was played in Qatar, although almost a year later than it could have been if not for the sanctions from FIFA and UEFA.
After the World Cup in Qatar, there was no football boom, as there was in Russia. Nevertheless, their fans were very active in supporting their team. There was a place for chants, drums, and the Icelandic “Hu!” Fans of the Russian team, although they were in the minority, throughout the match reminded of their presence with simple chants and choral singing of the anthem before the starting whistle. The most unexpected guest of the Russian sector was ex-captain of the national team Artem Dzyuba. Or rather, a cardboard cutout of him. It seems that in this way the fans tried to motivate our forwards to achieve goals.
The opening period of the match turned out to be quite good for the Russian team — the hosts' goalkeeper Meshal Barshim fully lived up to his name, not allowing Alexander Golovin, Fedor Chalov, or anyone else to score from mid-range. Towards the middle of the half, the Qatari team seized the initiative and over and over again revealed the defense of Valery Karpin's team through quick breakthroughs through the defensive flanks. Another fire from the defenders led to a clash between goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, defender Artem Makarchuk and midfielder Daniil Fomin. The intervention of teammates and the imminent approach of the break were able to extinguish the brewing conflict.
After the break, the Russians tried to return to the game, but the introduction of fresh players onto the field did not give the desired result. The second portion of substitutions turned out to be a warm-up before the opening of the scoring — in the 69th minute, Ilya Lantratov entered the game instead of Safonov, for whom this game became his debut in the national team. Unfortunately, the very first shot on target turned into a goal for the Qatar national team. Ahmed Alaaeldin scored, for whom this goal was only the second in the national team.
The Qataris tried to keep their goal intact, but the Russian team was able to equalize the score in the last minute of regular time — Alexander Soldatenkov scored after a corner kick .
Now the head coach of the Russian team, Valery Karpin, will have to conduct an in-depth analysis of the entire September training camp. In three matches there, the Russians drew twice and suffered one defeat. I would like to hope that in October, if the team gets together, the fans will see a more meaningful game and more satisfactory results.