Back to the Soccer Newsfeed

Samedov: Patient Russia executed gameplan perfectly against Spain

Russia's Aleksandr Samedov has revealed that "patience" was behind his country's stunning World Cup penalty shootout win over Spain.

The host nation appeared set to endure death by a thousand cuts against La Roja, who passed the ball over 1,000 times in their last 16 encounter.

A first-half own goal from Sergei Ignashevich gave Spain the lead, but an Artem Dzyuba penalty, awarded after a strange Gerard Pique handball, gave Russia a route back into the game.

Spain, who won the competition in 2010, then dominated possession, but were unable to break the hosts' stubborn defence down, and missed two penalties in the shootout, with Koke and Iago Aspas both seeing their efforts saved.