It really seems to be a tournament of underdogs currently. With Germany, Argentina and Portugal having been knocked out earlier in the tournament, hosts Russia continued their surge towards the title with a victory over Spain in the Round of 16.
Spain maintained chunks of possession, often keeping the ball but offered zero penetration or momentum while going ahead. Russia managed to keep hold of them by applying a deep block, and frustrated the Spaniards by breaking their attacks and catching them on the counter regularly.
5. Best: Isco
Isco was immense at the centre of the park for Spain, as his work-rate coupled with the knack of getting into advanced positions with his supreme dribbling and passing range meant that Spain could always churn out a chance or two through cramped situations. He delivered two key passes and had a whopping 197 touches on the ball. The Real Madrid man completed nine dribbles too, often making his way out from the Russian press with some nifty footwork. He distributed the ball well enough, often shunting it wide or playing it through the middle by exploiting the small spaces between the Russian players.
4. Worst: David de Gea
The best goalkeeper in the world took quite a stick and will have to do wonder to redeem his reputation on the international stage. After enduring his personal best season at Manchester United, where he walked off with the Golden Glove in the Premier League, De Gea was expected to take the World Cup by storm. What we saw was an uncharacteristically nervy performance, which disappointingly sums up his entire World Cup. Right from the start of the tournament, David has never been at his best, and today, in addition, he was not as commanding as usual.
Worst: Marco Asensio
The young lad from Real Madrid was trusted to start a really crucial World Cup game owing to his impressive performances over the past year or so. Asensio had made a name for himself as an impact substitution, but his overall play today hardly had any positive impact on the game as such. Playing as a wide forward of sorts, he should have used his pace and footwork to get the better of the wide defenders. He was expected to feed Costa with some testing deliveries from the flanks before shifting inside to take a shot or two himself.
Best: Ilya Kutepov
Yes, he is a centre-half and was the best player on the pitch for 120 long minutes.
In the first few glimpses, it was clear that Russia looked to defend deep rather than committing bodies ahead. Parking the bus is not at all an easy task and requires a lot of concentration, desire and the energy to maintain the same intensity over the course of the game.
Best: Artem Dzyuba
Artem used his physicality to great effect today and was the focal point of all the attacking moves that Russia started today. He was the target-man, someone who would collect the crosses coming from the wings. Dzyuba was tenacious too, often dropping back to get involved in pressing and defending as a unit.
He was able to get at the end of the passes with some smart runs behind the midfielders and used his strong physique to hold up the Spaniards. After holding up the play, he calmly distributed the ball to the onrushing forwards or wingers, and then joined in the attacks too.