Russia cruises

Titov, Karpin goals bury Tunisia 2-0 to top Group H

Tunisia's Hassen Gabsi (left) battles Russia's Andrei Solomatin for possession. AP

KOBE, Japan (Reuters) -- Russia made a solid start to its World Cup campaign when it cruised to a 2-0 victory over Tunisia on Wednesday and moved to the top of group H.

Second-half goals from Yegor Titov and Valery Karpin, from the penalty spot, secured Russia the victory its dominance warranted, though it impressed only intermittently.

In fact, it was not until Tunisia goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel's 59th minute mistake -- pounced upon by Titov for the breakthrough -- that Russia settled.

The result put it top of group H, but rivals Japan and Belgium, who drew 2-2 Tuesday, will have seen little to fear. (Tunisia says Russia can be beaten)

Russia coach Oleg Romantsev was pleased with the result, but not the performance of his side.

"It was a good game for the fans but there will be reprimands for my players after the game," Romantsev said. "We cannot allow our opponents to create so many chances and we created chances ourselves but did not finish them off.

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"So we have work to do in both penalty areas."

Tunisia joint coach Ammar Souayah said conceding two quick goals had made it difficult for his team to recover.

"It's true that we held out well for an hour but we conceded two quick goals against a very strong and experienced Russian team and it was difficult for us to come back," he said.

After failing to qualify for the finals in 1998, and exiting in the first round four years previously, many believe this could be the year Russia will taste success once more.

For Romantsev, it is an obligation rather than a choice, as the coach has suggested he will quit if Russia fail to make at least the second round.

Yet the absence of playmaker Alexander Mostovoi through injury was always going to restrict their potency in Kobe.

Even though his replacement, 19-year-old Marat Izmailov, tested Boumnijel with two long range shots during the first half, Romantsev's side soon ran out of ideas.

Intelligent runs

Vladimir Beschastnykh made some intelligent runs on occasions, but too often the talented Karpin and Titov, who also dragged a right foot shot wide in the final moments of the first half, pondered in possession.

In fact, it was Tunisia who nearly took the lead after 21 minutes when Hassen Gabsi burst through on the counter-attack and defenders Yuri Nikiforov and Yuri Kovtun combined to bundle the ball agonizingly wide of the post.

Stat Summary Russia     Tunisia  2  Goals  0  16  Shots  6  8  Shots on goal  2  15  Fouls  15  4  Corner kicks  7  1  Penalty kicks  0  2  Offsides  2  0  Own goals  0  2  Yellow cards  2  0  Red cards  0  59%  Ball possession  41%  30  Actual playing time  21     Attendance: 30,957     MATCH SUMMARY

It then began the second half brightly, with Slim Ben Achour firing inches wide from 20 meters and Karpin rescuing Russia with a brilliant defensive header when Adel Sellimi was poised to head home.

But shortly after that flurry, their hopes of only a second ever World Cup finals victory -- 24 years after the first -- disappeared.

Boumnijel's throw out of defense gifted possession to Russia and, after the ball fell kindly to him just inside the area, Titov clipped a right foot shot low past the embarrassed keeper.

Four minutes later, substitute Dmitry Sychev -- on for Beschastnykh -- was tripped in the area by Radhi Jaidi and, after referee Peter Prendergast pointed to the spot, Karpin coolly stepped up to send Boumnijel the wrong way.

Summary:

Russia 2 Tunisia 0 - result

World Cup, group H

Scorers: Yegor Titov 59, Valery Karpin 64pen

Yellow cards:

Russia - Igor Semshov 27, Dmitry Alenichev 88

Tunisia - Hassan Gabsi 50, Ziad Jaziri 75

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 30,957

Teams:

Russia (3-5-2): 1-Ruslan Nigmatullin; 2-Yuri Kovtun, 3-Yuri Nikiforov, 7-Viktor Onopko; 5-Andrei Solomatin, 6-Igor Semshov (21-Dmitry Khoklov 46), 8-Valery Karpin, 9-Yegor Titov, 20-Marat Izmailov (15-Dmitry Alenichev 78); 11-Vladimir Beschastnykh (22-Dmitry Sychyev 55), 19-Ruslan Pimenov

Tunisia (5-3-2): 1-Ali Boumnijel; 2-Khaled Badra (20-Ali Zitouni 83), 4-Mohamed Mkacher, 6-Hatem Trabelsi, 12-Raouf Bouzaiane, 15-Radhi Jaidi; 8-Hassan Gabsi (7-Imed Mhadhebi 67), 13-Riadh Bouazizi, 18-Slim Ben Achour; 11-Adel Sellimi (3-Zoubeir Baya 67), 5-Ziad Jaziri

Match referee: Peter Prendergast (Jamaica)

Linesmen: Michael Ragoonath (Trinidad), Paul Smith (New Zealand)

 

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