Denis Cheryshev scored two beautiful goals in the opening game of the 2018 World Cup against Saudi Arabia. He was voted man of the match and made the game that everyone thought would be a total snooze fest an absolute stunner.
Here are our select cuts from the world of social media following day one at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
While the opening ceremonies at the World Cup are usually awful, this one wasn't! Robbie Williams kept everyone on their toes by showing some "love" for the camera and the internet had an absolute field day.
Russia crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the World Cup opener on Thursday, a perfect result for the host nation. So was Russia that good or Saudi Arabia that bad? Let’s just say Russia vs Saudi Arabia was a mix of both thanks to Russia’s two stoppage time goals.
No event escalates individuals to the status of national hero or global villain as dramatically as the World Cup. The idolatry that follows success and the stigma that follows failure are woven into the fabric of history, and the repercussions will typically follow footballers for the rest of their lives. Daily, we’ll take a look at who played the role of hero and who played the role of villain at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Hero: Denis Cheryshev (Russia)
If every country has it’s own lesser version of Lionel Messi (“The Alpine Messi”, “The Egyptian Messi”, etc.) then Russia’s is certainly Denis Cheryshev. The 27-year-old has spent his entire career in Spain (including coming through at Real Madrid and making two appearances for the club before joining Villarreal in 2016), and he demonstrated his talents Thursday after coming on as a 24th minute substitute for the injured Alan Dzagoev.
19 minutes after coming on, Cheryshev doubled Russia’s advantage with a sweet strike in the 43rd minute.
To the delight of 80,000 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia has opened the scoring against Saudi Arabia in the 2018 World Cup’s curtain raiser. CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin provided some excellent service from the left wing, and FC Krasnodar’s Yury Gazinsky directed his header beyond Abdullah Al-Mayouf to give Russia the lead in the 12th minute.
From June 14 to July 15, Russia's 11 World Cup cities will host a combined 64 games. Moscow leads the pack as the site of 12 games in Luzhniki Stadium and Spartak Stadium. The capital is also the largest of the World Cup cities, with Saransk's population of 300,000 40 times smaller than Moscow's 12.5 million.
Connor: A combination of being hosts and Saudi Arabia being terrible is enough for a Russia victory