Russia snatch thrilling draw with Spain
Spain were held to a 3-3 draw by World Cup hosts Russia in Saint Petersburg in a friendly yesterday morning (Singapore time), despite a brace of penalties from centre back Sergio Ramos.
Barcelona fullback Jordi Alba's strike and Ramos' first spot-kick put the visitors in control, but goals either side of half-time from Fedor Smolov and Alexey Miranchuk pulled Russia level.
Although Ramos put the 2010 World Cup winners back in front, Smolov also completed a double to grab a draw, which extended Spain's unbeaten run under manager Julen Lopetegui to 15 matches.
"Russia showed a high level of play tonight as their players all looked extremely motivated," Lopetegui said.
"Russia haven't played any competitive games and their players worked flat out in every friendly match, but we also played well tonight. Both of our recent friendlies have been very useful for our team."
Russia wingback Konstantin Rausch said that he was happy with his team's performance.
"I'm pleased that we showed true team spirit," he said.
"After Spain claimed a 2-0 lead, we continued fighting and it paid off." - AFP
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