Russia Beat Tunisia 2-0 at World Cup

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 06, 2002

Russia Beat Tunisia 2-0 at World Cup

Egor Titov and Valery Karpin scored a goal apiece in the second half, giving Russia a 2-0 victory over Tunisia in the group H match at the World Cup Wednesday in Kobe, Japan.

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Russia Beat Tunisa 2:0

Egor Titov and Valery Karpin scored a goal apiece in the second half, giving Russia a 2-0 victory over Tunisia in the group H match at the World Cup Wednesday in Kobe, Japan.

Having missed so many scoring chances, the Russians were dragged to a goalless tie at halftime. The situation began to be changed in the 54 minute when Russia's talented young striker Dmitri Sychev got the chance to play in the pitch.

The 18-year-old striker who played for Spartak Moscow danced into the Tunisia's penalty area in the 62th minute and was brought down by a Tunis defender, which earned a penalty kick for Russia. Russian midfielder Valery Karpin shot home the penalty in the 63th minute, lifting his side to a 2-0 lead.

Russia's first goal came at the 59th minute when Titov took advantage of a mistake made by Tunis defenders and fired a volley home from the arc. Tunis goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel stretched long and tipped the ball but failed to block it from going home.

Since the start of the whole match, Russians established solid defense in the midfield from which they launched waves of offensives. But the Africans' defense in the penalty box was so strong that the Russians had no option but fired long-range shots.

A powerful long shot by Russia's defender Andrei Solomatin in the 14th minute bounced off Tunis goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel's hands, which aroused the exclamation of the spectators.

One minute later, the Russians got their first scoring chance in the penalty box, but forward Ruslan Pimenov's overhead kick was saved by Boumnijel.

Although the Tunis players spent more time in defense, they tried hard to take all the opportunities to counterattack. Their best scoring chance came at the 20th minute when Tunis midfielder Hassene Gabsi dashed into the penalty area, forcing Russian defender Yuri Nikiforov to nearly score the first own goal at this World Cup.

In the injury time of the first half, Russia's Titov got the best scoring chance by shooting in the penalty box through a pass from the right wing. But the ball went narrowly wide.

In the 52th minute, Tunisia's forward Slim Ben Achour unleashed a brilliant shot outside the penalty area, which hit an advertisement board behing the goal and flew into the bundles of the net.

In addition to the two goals in the second half, Russia also got many scoring chances, the best of which appeared in the 85th minute when Sychev beat Tunis goalkeeper near the endline and fired a shot to empty goal. Nevertheless, the ball flew narrowly wide.

Thanks to the win over Tunisia, Russia is ranking the first of the group H which also includes World Cup co-hosts Japan and Belgium. Japan and Belgium drew 2-2 in their first group match on Tuesday.

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