The Russian national football team defeated Bolivia 3-0 in a friendly match at the VTB Arena in Moscow. This was their first victory over South American opponents.
The match was dedicated to Nikita Simonyan, Spartak Moscow's top scorer and 1956 Olympic champion, who turned 99 on October 12. Players from both teams wore special kits with his face and number 99.
The Russian team took a two-goal lead in the first half thanks to goals from Lecha Sadulayev and Alexei Miranchuk. Ivan Sergeev scored another goal in the second half. 20,533 spectators watched the spectacle. The Russian team extended its unbeaten run in matches counted for the FIFA World Cup rankings to 21. After the suspension, the only matches not included in the rankings were the matches against Qatar (1-1) and the Olympic team of Egypt (1-1, 1-2) in September 2023.
The head coach of the Russian national team, Valery Karpin, said that he liked the first half more than the second. “The expectations for the football that the Bolivians could show were met. South American teams like these have a style; they worked well with the ball. As for our team, we liked the first half, but not the second. This is due to the substitutions and the result; we did not fulfill our tasks well“, Karpin told reporters.
This victory over a South American team was the first for the Russian national team. Previously, the Russian players faced Brazil (four losses, two draws), Argentina (two losses), Uruguay (one loss, one draw) and Chile (one draw).
Bolivia head coach Oscar Villegas said that the Russian players would have had an excellent chance of qualifying for the World Cup from the South American zone if they had competed there. “We have very good teams, strong players playing in the best European leagues, and that is a very difficult question to answer”, Villegas told reporters. “But the high level of the Russian team would allow them to qualify for the World Cup. Of the 10 teams on our continent, six places are always occupied by the strongest teams. Chile, Peru and Bolivia are fighting for the same place.“
“We faced a very strong, powerful and physically well-prepared opponent on the field. We made a number of mistakes, but the Russian national team pressed well and such matches are very useful. We learned from this and will figure out how to improve our performance for the upcoming matches“, he added.
The Bolivian team became the 100th opponent in the history of the Russian and Soviet national teams since 1912. In total, the national team has played 744 matches.