Football
Reuters 6y

Russia confident of keeping Mohamed Salah quiet - Stanislav Cherchesov

Russia's opening day World Cup win over Saudi Arabia has settled nerves within the squad and the hosts are confident they can keep Egypt forward Mohamed Salah quiet, says coach Stanislav Cherchesov*.

Russia face Egypt in their second match in St Petersburg on Tuesday after a resounding 5-0 victory over the Saudis that has taken them to the top of Group A, ahead of Uruguay on goal difference.

"We're preparing ourselves, we're training according to a plan. We have done everything we planned to do," Cherchesov told a news conference. "We are studying Egypt and we should be able to exploit their weaknesses."

"Every team has players that you need to pay special attention to. Egypt is a balanced team and, of course, Mo Salah is the strongest one in the team, we understand this.

"But we aren't playing against one player, we have to take into consideration all the players. We understand how to do this and tomorrow you will see this."

Egypt elected not to use Salah in their first match against Uruguay and lost 1-0 and now need to beat Russia to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages alive.

Salah, who came into the tournament carrying a shoulder injury and was not risked against the group favourites, scored 44 goals in all competitions for Liverpool last season. He also has scored 33 goals in 57 appearances for Egypt and was their top scorer in World Cup qualifying.

The hosts entered the World Cup as the lowest-ranked team in the competition and expectations surrounding their chances at the tournament were subdued, but captain Igor Akinfeev said the mood had improved considerably after their first victory.

"Nothing should stand between us and beautiful football so everything is going according to plan," the goalkeeper said. "A good mood brings good results. We're joking with each other, we are a little bit more relaxed.

"I believe this good mood should not only be among us but among the fans too. We should be united to win."

Cherchesov said Russia needed to start with a clean slate against Egypt.

"We need to leave this victory behind us. It is history already. It's good history, but let us start with a clean page. I hope we succeed in St Petersburg," he said.

"I trust in my team, I believe in my players. I have a simple answer: We are ready to [stop Salah] and we will do this."

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