FIFA Confederations Cup Finals hosts Russia got off to the ideal start when comfortably overcoming the All Whites 2-0 in front of 50,251 fans at St. Petersburg's Krestovsky Stadium on June 17, the scoreline very much flattering the Kiwi combination. The Russians made a fast start to proceedings, Stefan Marinovic forced into his first save just three minutes into the contest, turning a rising Aleksandr Golovin drive round the post after Yury Zhirkov had got the better of Kip Colvey on the left. Four minutes later, an Alexander Samedov corner picked out Viktor Vasin, whose diving header took a deflection which deceived Marinovic and hit the inside of the far post. Michael McGlinchey, who had been covering the other upright, was on hand to execute a goal-line clearance on the occasion of his fiftieth appearance in all matches for the All Whites. The host nation came again in the ninth minute. Vasin's ball forward was well controlled by Fedor Smolov, who spread play wide to Samedov. His cross on the run arced beyond the far post to Dmitry Poloz, who engineered the space from which to direct a tame shot past Marinovic. The fast-retreating figure of Tommy Smith was on hand to clear off the line this time. The All Whites defender featured at the other end of the park three minutes later. Marinovic fired a free-kick forward from near the half-way line, his target captain Chris Wood, whose fiftieth "A" international for New Zealand this was. The striker guided his header inside to Smith, who lofted the ball across the face of goal - one of very few openings Anthony Hudson's side would enjoy throughout the entire match. Before the next one materialised - a wild Wood volley following good work by Costa Barbarouses, Russia had threatened twice more. Penalty claims were correctly waved away after Vasin's ball forward had allowed Poloz to burst through on goal, the striker going down under the challenge of the fast-advancing Marinovic. And in the eighteenth minute, a captivating counter-attack started by goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saw Smolov charge past two opponents en route to the left flank, where he linked up with Zhirkov. His angled cross was pawed out at full stretch by Marinovic, but no-one in a red shirt was following in. The All Whites custodian was called upon again in the 24th minute, this time to turn away a ferocious thirty yarder from Georgy Dzhikya. Marinovic then combined with Michael Boxall to thwart Poloz three minutes later, while the offside flag came to New Zealand's rescue on the half-hour to deny Smolov the opening goal. That was just seconds away, however. A stray pass from Colvey was pounced on by Aleksandr Erokhin, whose first-time pass was instantly touched on by Poloz to send Denis Glushakov dashing through with just Marinovic to beat. Both Boxall and Smith were dashing back to avert the danger as Glushakov lifted the ball over the 'keeper, the defenders' desperation to divert the ball to safety seeing Boxall get the final touch to concede an own goal, even though it was the Russian player who was fully deserving of all the plaudits. The goal had been coming for quite some time, and before the interval, Smolov led the charge in search of a second. It wasn't forthcoming prior to the half-

time whistle, but three minutes after the resumption, it would surely have been 2-0 but for a stunning double-save by Marinovic. Samedov fed Smolov, doubling around outside him. The striker's measured cross picked out fellow front-runner Poloz, whose header was pawed out at full stretch by the All Whites' goalkeeper, who recovered breathtakingly quickly to deny Erokhin, who was following in at the near post. Another splendid Russian move five minutes later saw Poloz leading the charge before Zhirkov took over to fire a curling effort goalwards. Marinovic tipped this away, with Ryan Thomas getting back to complete the clearance as the host nation, urged on by the locals, looked to double their lead. After McGlinchey had blocked a Golovin shot, and Samedov only just failed to find the target with a free-kick moments after the hour had ticked by, Russia finally made it 2-0 in the 69th minute. Smolov led the charge before feeding Samedov wide on the right. His low cross targeted substitute Aleksandr Bukharov, but Smith intervened, only to look on in horror as it set things up perfectly on a plate for the incoming figure of Smolov on the far post … Game over, or so it seemed. But the All Whites had other ideas, and thirteen minutes from time a Boxall long throw-in was cleared as far as Thomas, who unleashed a thumping twenty yard rocket which the hitherto untested Akinfeev turned round the post well. McGlinchey's resulting corner picked out the head of Smith, whose effort was cleared off the line by the well-positioned figure of Zhirkov - the last thing Russia needed at this stage of proceedings was to concede a goal, and the midfielder's intervention ensured they would stay well on course for victory. Into the final ten minutes, the chances continued to come for the host nation. A wriggling run and cross from Smolov found no one in red arriving on the far post to do justice to his creativity, while in the 84th minute, Bukharov just failed to get on the end of another Smolov cross. Not satisfied with his team-mates' efforts, the scorer of Russia's second goal went for the target himself in the 88th minute, seconds after Boxall had denied Zhirkov on the far post. Smolov, this time, was foiled by Marinovic's smothering save after getting the better of Smith. The last opportunity of the match came in stoppage time, with Alexev Miranchuk - a late substitute for Smolov, fired in a corner which was flicked on at the near post by Glushakov. Arriving on the back stick was Bukharov, but Marinovic somehow denied him at point-blank range to restrict Russia's victory to 2-0 - a six-goal win wouldn't have flattered the host nation. It's back to the drawing board for the All Whites, who face Mexico in their next group encounter, from 6am on Thursday, NZ time, at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi. Russia:          Akinfeev; Dzhikya, Vasin, Kudriashov; Samedov, Glushakov, Erokhin (Tarasov, 77), Golovin, Zhirkov; Poloz (Bukharov, 64), Smolov (Miranchuk, 89) All Whites:     Marinovic; Boxall, Durante, Smith; Colvey (Patterson, 83), Thomas, McGlinchey, Rojas (Smeltz, 71), Wynne; Barbarouses (Tuiloma, 61), Wood Referee:     Wilmar Roldan (Colombia)