Russia's Karpin says draw with Kenya exposed existing problems, joins players in blaming the pitch

Russia’s national football team head coach Valery Georgiyevich Karpin felt the score-line between his side and Kenya’s Harambee Stars was “according to the game” and at the risk of not seeming to make an excuse for the result, added that his side “turned on the speed we needed only at the end.”

After jumping to an early lead through Aleksandr Sobolev in the eighth minute, Karpin’s side conceded twice in twenty first half minutes to trail 2-1 at the break, but ultimately salvaged a draw when two of his second half substitutes - Aleksandr Silyanov and Ivan Oblyakov - combined to see the latter grab an equalizer in the 88th minute.

The two Kenyan goals were scored by Athony Akumu and Masud Juma in the 16th and 36th minute respectively.

“We started well, especially in the first minutes,” Karpin told Russian outlet Sport Express post-game. “Everything worked out: the pressure, the attack, and the goal was scored. We missed the optional first goal.

“Maybe it sounds like an excuse but in the second half, we tried to turn the tide of the match, but only at the end did we turn on the speed we needed. The score is according to the game.”

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With his side making a comical of errors, including one that saw his goalkeeper Ilya Pomazun and center back Georgi Dzhikiya caught out early on in Kenya’s first goal, the FC Rostov head coach didn’t overly deny that he squad lacked in motivation, saying: “There are many problems, but I won’t tell you a lot. I saw a lot of problems. Thank God I noticed them. Everyone saw it.”

Asked if the problems were gaming ones, he said “naturally”, adding: “After today’s game, the information we had was only confirmed. When, after Cameroon, they asked why this one wasn’t playing, the second match gave the answers.”

Russia on Thursday 12 October played against Cameroon at the Dynamo Central Stadium in Moscow, winning 1-0 thanks to a Fyodor Chalov strike.

A question on whether Kenya was more active than Russia was answered with an “absolutely no” response from Karpin, but he admitted that the Mardan Titanic Sports Complex playing surface on Monday, was far from ideal, and worse than the aforementioned Dynamo Central Stadium.

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The same sentiments were voiced by one of the team goal scorers, Silyanov and Oblyakov.

“It’s clear that you can’t blame everything on the field but I think that this result is more because of this,” he said. “But it seemed to me that Cameroon was stronger.”

Oblyakov, who scored his first national team goal on the night, chimed in on the matter saying: “The quality of the field got in the way a little. All the guys talk about it. Simple transmission errors have something to do with this. We mainly try to play low, through a short pass.

“We made a mistake somewhere, and we were punished for it. Everyone fought and tried.”

He also thought that both Cameroon and Kenya “are interesting teams” and were “prepared athletically."

The stalemate result was the fourth time that Russian matches had ended in a draw in 2023, after previously sharing the spoils with Qatar, Egypt U-23 and Iran.

The team, currently under FIFA suspension, is said to be in negotiations with the Russian Football Union for another set of November international friendlies.