MOSCOW, May 31 (Sputnik) - Former Russia striker Sergey Kiryakov told Sputnik on Thursday that the national team's 1-0 defeat in a friendly against Austria had shown that the team still had plenty of problems.
The warm-up match took place in the Austrian city of Innsbruck on Wednesday night, with Schalke midfielder Alessandro Schopf scoring the only goal of the game in the 28th minute. The Russian side failed to make any shots on target at all.
"There were high hopes that in a match like this the team will start showing... the kind of football that should secure us a good result at the World Cup. The game has revealed that there're still lots of problems," Kiryakov said adding that everyone expected a better performance from the team, especially given the fact that there is little time left until the tournament.
The former striker also said that Russia head coach Cherchesov's plan to play with four defenders turned out to have a negative effect on the team's attacking force, while the Austrian side failed to score more goals only due to certain slackness on their part.
Russia's preliminary squad have been training in Austria since May 21 and are set to head back home later on Thursday ahead of their final pre-World Cup friendly against Turkey in Moscow on June 5.
Russia will host the FIFA World Cup for the first time from June 14 to July 15 at 12 arenas in 11 cities. The hosts will play Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in Group A.
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