Russia maintain perfect record

Following victories in their opening matches over Solomon Islands and Colombia respectively. Russia and Solomon Islands met in Bangkok knowing that a win would go a long way to guaranteeing a place in the knockout phase. Yet the game was not as close as many neutrals might have previously anticipated with Russia dominating from the first whistle to the last. They got off to the best possible start when skipper Serget Sergeev volleyed them ahead in the 34th second after linking up well with Sirilo. Two minutes later, they had doubled their advantage when Carlos Merida failed to stop Vladislav Shayakhmetov’s direct free-kick. In a role reversal of Russia’s first, Sergeev turned provider for Sirilo for Russia’s third and Dimitrii Prudnikov fired home a stunning volley for the Europeans’ fourth. The fifth came from the second penalty spot after Merida had fouled Alexander Fukin outside his area, with Sergeev making no mistake from the resulting penalty. The captain completed his hat-trick shortly before half-time when he reacted quickest to a shot which the keeper could not hold on to. At the opposite end, Gustavo showed tremendous agility when called upon, but those occasions were all too brief as Russia bossed the second half too. Eder Lima scored the seventh in the 27th minute, Pavel Suchilin the eighth and Prudnikov completed the rout to give Russia 25 goals from their two games in the tournament so far. Russia now meet Colombia, while Guatemala take on Solomon Islands in Bangkok on Friday. FIFA