We have a saying in Russia, Stanislav Cherchesov told reporters from behind his fearsome moustache on Saturday afternoon.
“Anyone,” said the coach of Russia’s World Cup team, “can be a god if he tries.”
The statement — a day before Russia would play Spain in the World Cup’s round of 16 — was both pushback and premonition. Cherchesov knew what everyone was thinking: that his Russian team, the lowest-ranked in the field, had done well up until now as the host of the World Cup, but would surely reach the end of the line when it took on Spain, a former world and European champion.
In fact, they did so well, they will keep playing. In a stunning upset, Russia eliminated Spain on penalty kicks, 4-3, after a 1-1 tie that extended through 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime.
The deciding moment came when Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev used his trailing left foot to kick away Iago Aspas’s fifth penalty attempt for Spain. The Russians had been dominated throughout the game, but a penalty kick by Artem Dzyuba before halftime allowed them to tie the score at 1-1 and a gritty, disciplined, defensive effort ultimately led to the penalty shootout and a result that many had considered unthinkable.
Cherchesov and Russia now have several players to toast as they begin to look ahead to their next game, on Saturday in Sochi, where they will play the winner of the Croatia-Denmark game in the quarterfinals.
To say Spain played Russia to a draw was technically true. But in reality, Spain played and Russia chased for most of the match inside the cavernous Luzhniki Stadium, with Spain content to keep possession of the ball after an early goal and Russia, well, content to let Spain have it.
For 10, 15, 20 passes at a stretch, Spain worked the ball around the field at will — a game of keep-away disguised as a World Cup elimination match. The pro-Russian crowd whistled its disapproval early and repeatedly and urged its team on with all its might whenever it managed — even briefly — to steal the ball away from the Spaniards. But Spain, inevitably and repeatedly, simply took the ball back. And kept it.
Spain was so dominant in the first half that it nearly made it to halftime with a one-goal lead despite taking no shots: its opening goal came off the right ankle of Sergei Ignashevich, who unwittingly scored this World Cup’s 10th own goal — a record that continues to grow — as he fell to the ground while tangling with Spain’s Sergio Ramos on a free kick in the 12th minute.
Staked to the early lead it sought, Spain continued to pass and Russia continued to chase. Nothing happened as the game quickly devolved into a training session.
And then, in the 40th minute, everything suddenly changed. Russia won a corner, Alexander Samedov fired it in and Dzyuba headed it directly onto the arm of Spain’s Gerard Piqué — who for some reason had jumped to challenge him with his back turned and one arm over his head.
The Dutch referee, Bjorn Kuipers, called a handball. Dzyuba buried it past David De Gea and just like that, Russia — and its crowd — came to life.
Russia had ridden that kind of full-throated support right through its first three games at the tournament. Its maximum effort and early success — two victories in its first three games — had quickly got its countrymen on board, easing fears that the tournament might be basically ignored by the host country if the Russian team exited early. Indeed, after its second victory, against Egypt, Russians poured into the streets of central Moscow, honking car horns, waving flags and celebrating until well after midnight.
Dzyuba’s goal seemed to revive those fans on Sunday, and let them think victory might just be possible. The start of the second half was more even, and the free kicks Russia won — with increasing frequency — soon began to create two and three half-chances before Spain got the ball clear.
Spain still ruled the statistics — it completed 1,029 passes to Russia’s 202 by the end of the match — but it stubbornly refused to adjust its style even after it became clear Russia would not yield. It had good chances — a long-range shot by Andres Iniesta in the second half, a dangerous run by the substitute Rodrigo in the second extra period — but the goal never came.
Having reached the penalty-kick shootout, Russia drove in the knife. Fyodor Smolov, then Ignashevich, then Alexsandr Golovin, then Russia’s Denis Cherchyshev, all beat goalkeeper de Gea. (Cherchyshev, who plays for Villarreal in Spain, where he has lived since joining Real Madrid’s academy at age 12, banged his in after Ramos whispered in his ear before the attempt.)
Akinfeev did the rest, stopping Koke on Spain’s third attempt and Aspas on the fifth. As he kicked the ball high into the air with his trailing foot to seal the victory, the crowd of 78,011 made a sound louder than any at this World Cup.
And now those fans will get at least one more chance to cheer their heroes.