Russia's players celebrate one of their goals against Saudi Arabia on Thursday (soccernbcsports.com photo)
Denis Cheryshev scored a double as Russia put in a dominant 5-star performance, hammering Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup at the Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday. Yuri Gazinskiy sent Russia ahead in the 12th minute. Cheryshev grabbed the first of his two goals in the 43rd minute.
Saudi Arabia had no answer for the men in red and white as Artem Dzyuba scored his team's third goal in the 71st minute. It got worse for Suadi Arabi in the second-half stoppage time as Cheryshev added a fourth before Aleksandr Golovin scored his side's fifth goal. Russia's next match is against Egypt on June 19 before they take on Uruguay on June 25.
The competition continues on Friday with three matches. Egypt will face Urugay at 7:00 am in a Group 'A' match, before Group 'B' gets going with Morocco taking on Iran at 10:00 and 2006 champions Spain squaring off against European champions Portugal at 1:00 pm.
Hitz 92 FM’s coverage starts at 6:00 am with e pre-game show for the Egypt/Uruguay encounter while TVJ’s coverage gets underway with a pre-game show at 9:00 for the Morocco/Iran contest.
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