Capello remains optimistic despite Russia’s defeat against Portugal in qualifier - Football News
Russian national football team head coach, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 Capello, has hailed his side’s character despite a narrow 1-0 defeat in the World Cup qualifier match against Portugal at Estadio da Luz on Friday.
“I think the team played a good match and we do not deserve a defeat. I think a draw would have been fair result. We accept this defeat with a sense of accomplishment because I think we played a good game.
“In football, there are different points. We really had a tough start but we were able to react properly and change the course of the match. Unfortunately, we failed to find the equalizer in the end.
“I complimented the guys after the game in the locker room. We fought to the end, trying to win,” the former Real Madrid coach was quoted as saying.
Helder Postiga managed to score the only goal of the match in the ninth minute of the nail-biting encounter. After that, both teams repeatedly created poignant moments but the score remained unchanged.
The Russian team demonstrated quality football at the end of the first period and early in the second-half but it was not enough to turn the tide.
The Euro 2008 semi-finalists suffered their first defeat under newly appointed Capello, who resigned as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 boss last year. The Italian tactician could not save his side dropping down to the second-spot on their respective
group table. They are currently two points behind Portugal.
The former AC Milan coach remained undefeated after claiming back-to-back wins in the group stages against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Northern-Ireland-c2972 (2-0) respectively.
However, the Russians troops are still favourites to lead the Group F table despite their latest defeat against the Selecao at Lisbon. Capello’s men will now play the upcoming group stage games against Northern Ireland in August.
Capello went on to express his satisfaction over Aleksandr Kerzhakov’s performance in the match, saying that the Russian striker will be back to his possible best in the near future.
The 66-year-old confirmed that he replaced http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Aleksandr-Anyukov-c4549 after both the players sustained respective injuries.
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