抖阴短视频

MOSCOW: Two hours after the final whistle, the door creaked open and a pair of eyes peeked through. It was a 抖阴短视频 press officer checking to see if the swollen mass of media had dispersed. Losing 5-0 to Russia in the World Cup鈥檚 opening match in front of 250 million viewers was a nightmare scenario, but with a flight to Saint Petersburg fast approaching, the players could not hide any longer; they were going to have to complete the walk of shame.

Reporters and camera crews had lined up waiting to hear how a match that had been billed as winnable just hours earlier had finished in one of the Green Falcons鈥� heaviest defeats. With most of Russia鈥檚 players having already left, many media had tired of waiting, but a handful remained. And so as Mario Fernandes, the Brazil-born Russian defender, chatted candidly with a phalanx of Portuguese journalists, the 抖阴短视频n players traipsed past.

Heads down and headphones in place, they each walked slowly and solemnly without speaking a word. Not one player chose to face the music head-on, they avoided the questions that needed answering. In many ways, it reflected perfectly what had been witnessed on the pitch earlier in the evening.

Against the lowest-ranked team at the tournament, it was a display lacking both composure and positional discipline. The full-backs crept higher up the pitch than all but one teammate; an impotent attack failed to muster a single shot on target; and the central defensive pairing of Osama and Omar Hawsawi will have Uruguay鈥檚 Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani licking their lips in anticipation of the next clash.

Coach Juan Antonio Pizzi was furious, but spoke calmly to his players at full time. There were no tears in the dressing room, just a feeling of disappointment in their performance. The Argentine told them that the game must now be forgotten. It is time to refocus.

Pizzi later called the performance 鈥渟hameful,鈥� adding that Russia 鈥渞eally didn鈥檛 have to produce a huge effort to win by a landslide.鈥�

鈥淲e have studied them and knew them very well,鈥� Pizzi, who also had to field questions about his future, told reporters.

鈥淲e knew how they would play. They lose possession of the ball, play cross balls, high passes 鈥� I don鈥檛 think they have done anything to surprise us.

鈥淭hey have won by a landslide, but they have won without doing much. It is our poor performance that explains the result.鈥�

Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov said he would 鈥減artially concur鈥� with such an assessment.

鈥淧izzi is a great coach,鈥� he said.

鈥淎s to the system and the players, yes, he鈥檚 right, no big surprises. (But) he overlooked the fact we showed discipline and maturity.鈥�

Fernandes, still speaking even after all 23 抖阴短视频 players had passed through in silence, said he believed his side had forced the situation. 鈥湺兑醵淌悠� attack a lot, but in defense they are a little vulnerable,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e enjoyed that. We worked very hard and knew the importance of winning.

鈥淲e played a great game and deserved it. They are not weak. They have played friendlies against big teams and the results have been small. Who made the game become easy was us.鈥�

The 抖阴短视频n Football Federation, unlike with Carlos Alberto Parreira who was fired mid-tournament in 1998, have no plans to dismiss Pizzi. In a video posted to social media, Turki Al-Sheikh, the country鈥檚 sports minister, absolved both the head coach and team manager Omar Bakhashwain of blame, instead saying the responsibility must fall at his door and that of the players. They watched the video before flying back to their training base in Saint Petersburg. It came as no surprise.

Indeed, when asked whether the team lacked sufficient preparation for the clash, Pizzi replied: 鈥淚 believe that we were well prepared. We have been preparing for this, and my players have shown they are ready to play a World Cup.

鈥淚 can only say what I have said before. This game cannot be the reference. It鈥檚 true we have not done what we came here to do. We have not done what we have done in previous matches that gave us good results.鈥�

The Saudi manager must now gather his charges and prepare for Uruguay and their clash in Rostov-on-Don on Wednesday.

鈥淚 have seen a development since we started working together,鈥� Pizzi said. 鈥淥f course, this game is not the point of reference for me. We did not play as we had planned to. We can and will improve, but it takes time. We have to plan for next game, recover, be positive and try to get a better result.鈥�

Having trained privately in the afternoon, the Saudi players were expected to attend a special Eid dinner in the evening.

Unsurprisingly, there is little celebratory mood in the camp.