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Spain v Russia player ratings as Igor Akinfeev earns 8 but dreadful Marco Asensio gets 4

Sport360 staff

22:26 01/07/2018

Hosts Russia caused a massive upset at the World Cup on Sunday as they knocked out Spain after winning 4-3 on penalties.

With the score level at 1-1 after extra-time, the game headed into penalties where Koke and Iago Aspas missed and Fernando Hierro‘s team was ousted from the tournament.

Here we take a look at player ratings for both teams.

SPAIN (4-2-3-1)

David De Gea – 6 – Had hardly anything to do but his distribution wasn’t great. Could save any of Russia’s penalties despite getting close.

Nacho – 6 – Won the free-kick for the opening goal and was solid down the right before going off with a knee problem.

Gerard Pique – 6 – Conceded a silly penalty, otherwise did a decent enough job and crashed home his penalty off the post.

Sergio Ramos – 7 – Produced his usual battering ram job from a set-piece, forcing Ignashevich into the own goal. Scored his penalty.

Jordi Alba – 6 – Covered Russia’s occasional counter-attacks well and tried to help in attack but struggled to provide penetration.

Koke – 5 – Did a good job defensively but very limited on the ball. Missed his penalty in the shoot-out.

Sergio Busquets – 6 – Sat in front of the back four and played in simple, rarely pressured as Russia sat deep.

Isco – 7 – Buzzed everywhere from his starting position on the left wing, always looking Spain’s most – or only – dangerous creative source.

David Silva – 4 – Another very disappointing game for the veteran, who again couldn’t get on the ball and was rightly replaced.

Marco Asensio – 4 – Brought in to provide creativity down the right but failed to do so. Nice free-kick for the opener but little else.

Diego Costa – 5 – Starved of service and lacking space to attack, this just wasn’t his game. Became slightly more involved after the break before being subbed.

SUBSTITUTES

Andres Iniesta – 6 – Came on midway through the second half and came close to a winner with a fierce 20-yard strike. Scored his penalty.

Dani Carvajal – 6 – Took over from Nacho in right-back duties and tried to be more attacking, but with little effect.

Iago Aspas – 6 – Replaced Costa and provided a different threat with his busy movement, but saw the decisive spot-kick saved.

Rodrigo – 7 – Came on as a second striker in extra time and added much-needed energy, nearly grabbing a winner.

RUSSIA (4-5-1)

Igor Akinfeev – 8 – Largely untroubled but made a pair of good saves from Iniesta and Rodrigo and a great shoot-out stop from Aspas.

Ilya Kutepov – 8 – Looked nervy early on but improved to deliver an excellent performance, anticipating well and acting decisively.

Sergei Ignashevich – 6 – Defended poorly to score an own goal, allowing himself to be bullied out of position, but otherwise solid and scored his penalty.

Fyodor Kudryashov – 7 – Solid job in defence, keeping disciplined to prevent any space from opening up for Spain’s probing attacks.

Mario Fernandes – 8 – Excellent job down the right, limiting the attacking impact of Alba and getting forward whenever he could.

Daler Kuzyaev – 5 – Did he play? Barely noticed until he made a footnote of history by being involved in Russia’s fourth substitution.

Roman Zobnin – 5 – Another anonymous presence in midfield, forced to sacrifice any ball-playing intentions and do a chasing job.

Yuri Zhirkov – 4 – Remarkably only had 15 touches before he was replaced at half-time. Completely anonymous.

Aleksandr Samedov – 5 – Billed as one of Russia’s most creative presences but he had little impact and was replaced after an hour.

Aleksandr Golovin – 7 – By far the most dangerous of Russia’s attackers, though that wasn’t difficult. Fired home a low penalty.

Artem Dzyuba – 6 – Battled for everything in the air including a header to win the penalty in normal time, which he converted crisply. Later subbed.

Substitutes

Vladimir Granat – 5 – Came on at half-time but was almost as invisible as the man he replaced, doing nothing but defending.

Denis Cheryshev – 5 – Came on at some point and did very little until nervelessly netting his team’s fourth penalty.

Fyodor Smolov – 5 – Curled a late shot narrowly wide in a rare attacking burst. Fired penalty into left corner.

Aleksandr Erokhin – 5 –  Added more physical presence after being introduced in the extra period, getting in the way a few times.

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