(Source: http://www.euro-football.ru/article)

The goalkeeper of the Russian national football team Igor Akinfeev apologized for the mistake because of which the team conceded a goal in the match against South Korea in 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The match, which was held at Arena Pantanal stadium in Cuiaba, ended in a 1:1 draw. The Russian team responded to the goal of Lee Keun-ho on 68th minute with an accurate hit of Alexander Kerzhakov on 74th minute. "I want to apologize to everyone for a missed goal, Akinfeev said in a conversation with reporters. – I did a childish mistake and the goal is completely on my conscience. I wouldn’t say it was an excitement. Maybe lack of confidence, I don’t know. It's not the ball, it's my hands. The guys supported me, I appreciate it. The keeper of national team shouldn’t miss such goals."

Teammates supported Akinfeev. Defender Dmitry Kombarov said that Akinfeev apologized to the team after the game, and he was supported by partners. "Never mind, it can happen to anyone. We backed him up,” Kombarov said.  The player admitted that he experienced a specific thrill before the match. "This is why we were too cautious. If we played from the beginning as good as in the last 25 minutes of the match and scored one or two goals, of course, the game would have turned out differently. But it is extremely difficult to maintain this pace for 90 minutes. I think at the moment we are well prepared physically," Kombarov concluded. "We hoped for something more than a draw."

The forward Alexander Kokorin said that Russian football team expected from itself something more in the starting game of the World Cup. "Of course everyone, including players, hoped for something more than a draw. We wanted to win, so farther it would be quieter,” Kokorin said. - But a draw is not the worst result. Two victories will lead us to the playoffs. Kokorin was not affected by public opinion, which considers him the hope of the Russian team.

The forward said that the reason why the game was not too successful is the fact that Russian players had to move a lot without the ball. "I would not say we had a defensive tactics, Capello instructed us to lob the ball high above the penalty area, Kokorin said. Perhabs, not everything turned out just because of the excitement of the first game. Many were afraid to make a mistake. May the Lord make us look better in the next games".  In another match of Group H, which includes teams of Russia and South Korea, the Belgians beat Algerians 2-1.

Standings in Group H after 1st round is as follows: 1. Belgium - 3, 2. Russian - 1, 3. South Korea - 1, 4. Algeria - 0. On June 22, the Russian team will clash Belgian team (20:00 MSK) at Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro and South Korea national team will meet team of Algeria in Porto Alegre.