Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the strong-willed performance of the Russian national football team in the quarter-final match with the Croatian team, and invited players and head coach Stanislav Cherchesov to discuss the results at the Kremlin.
Russia was eliminated from the tournament, as Croatia beat them on penalties in Sochi on Sunday (AEST) to advance to the World Cup semi-finals, where they will face England on Wednesday. The match finished 2-2 after extra time.
"Putin called Cherchesov on Saturday before the match and wished success in the game," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"After the end of the match, Putin called him again and noted the worthy performance of the [Russian] players in the championship, as well as a beautiful, strong-willed game in the historic match against Croatia.
"The president invited the head coach and the players of the national team to the event dedicated to summarizing of the championship results and discussing issues of determining the heritage of the World Cup in Russia."
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