FC Krasnodar 3-0 (3-0) Suwon Samsung Bluewings (South Korea)
Goals: Claesson, 13 (Podberyozkin, 1-0), Smolov, 24 (Claesson, 2-0), Podberyozkin, 36 (Claesson, 3-0).
FC Krasnodar (Russia): Sinitsyn, Kaleshin, Martynovich, Naldo, Ramírez, Shishkin, Gazinskiy, Podberyozkin (Pereyra, 67), Claesson, Wánderson, Smolov.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (South Korea): Kim Jong-woo (Yang Hyung-mo, 46), Cho Won-hee, Ko Cha-won (Kim Gun-hee, 62), Seo Jung-jin (Moon Jun-ho), Eun Seong-soo (Yang Sang-min, 46), Shin Hwa-yong (Jurman, 46), Kang Seong-jin, Choi Sung-geun (Lee Sang-min, 85), Park Gi-dong (You Juan, 81), Kim Joon-hyung, Šovšić (Kim Jin-rae, 64).
Yellow cards: Martynovich, 63 (foul play) – Cho Won-hee, 64 (attack breakdown), Kim Gun-hee, 69 (attack breakdown)
Referees: Fernandez, Padilla, Godínez (all Spain).
6 February. Spain. Marbella. Estadio Municipal de Marbella. Clear. 16 degrees. 50 spectators.
On the following day after a game with SK Slavia Prague the Bulls met a club from the South Korean K League Classic. This time FC Krasnodar boss Igor Shalimov fielded his most effective squad good enough to play in an official game. The Suwon team began the match in a very active way, so the black-greens spent the first ten minutes to win the ball back from the Koreans and establish their own control over it. Once that was done FC Krasnodar began displaying their attacking potential to all those present in the stands. So the Club President Sergey Galitsky (he had arrived to Spain the day before) was probably happy with what he saw unlike Dick Advocaat, the Dutch manager of Fenerbahçe S.K., and Massimo Carrera, his Italian counterpart from FC Spartak Moscow. It seemed as if they received some serious food for thought on how to stop the Bulls if they catch the wind.
All Krasnodar players with no exceptions were worthy of credit for their performance in the first half. Defenders dealt confidently and selflessly with Suwon sudden attacks. Defensive midfielders Gazinskiy and Shishkin totally occupied the midfield. Wánderson kept on winning the ball back from the opponents and providing his partners with assists just fine. Even Sinitsyn the keeper made his contribution to the common effort when he parried a nasty shot by the Korean striker on one occasion. But the main characters of the first half were of course Podberyozkin, Claesson and Smolov.
This trio of players acted in a most well-coordinated and creative way giving an impression as if they had been playing together for years. It is beyond words to describe the different but equally splendid goals the joint effort of those three created. The opener took place on the 13th minute. Podberyozkin ripped up the defense of the South Koreans along their central seam with his vertical pass, and Viktor Claesson made a timely reply to this miracle assist executing a one-on-one situation with the keeper in cold blood. One can also recognize Smolov’s contribution to this combination, since it was his well-timed maneuver that led the defenders away and helped to make a channel for the Swede to break through.
Eleven minutes later Claesson brilliantly implemented just the thing Igor Shalimov is willing to observe constantly with his players in game. He tackled a player of the opposition with high pressing and stole the ball from him on the left flank, 35 meters from the opposite goal. Viktor then proceeded with entering the box, made the goalie attack him and passed the ball to his own centre-forward. Fyodor Smolov was surrounded by several defenders, but he made good use of the episode and took a shot that nobody of the Korean team was able to save.
The third goal occurred twelve minutes later. Now all of the three mentioned players participated in this attack that went as if sung to note. Smolov found Claesson in the penalty area with a penetrating pass at first, and the Swede one-touched the ball comfortably to Vyacheslav Podberyozkin. The latter continued with a classy bent shot sending the ball exactly next to the second pole of the Korean keeper domain.
Apart from these scoring combinations the Krasnodar players also launched quite a number of other sharp and spectacular attacks. Hence the 3-0 on the scoreboard after the first half broadly mirrored what had been happening on the pitch.
In the second half the Bluewings tried to justify their name at least somehow and soar high over the field of the Marbella municipal stadium where they had been defamed so ruthlessly by the unmannerly Bulls before the half-time interval. Now the South Koreans controlled the ball more, and their attacks against the goal guarded by Andrei Sinitsyn became more persistent. FC Krasnodar defense made no blunder however, and the counterattacks players of Igor Shalimov launched were sometimes rather decent. A better part of those naturally found Smolov at their spearhead, but neither he nor his teammates were able to score more goals that day.
And yet, the goalless second half did not ruin the general impression of FC Krasnodar performance. It can be seen the team is moving in the right direction, but the Spanish training camp has not finished yet, so it is necessary to spend its final four work days in a productive way.