'A Kid's mistake'

Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev fumbles a tame effort from South Korea's Lee Keun-Ho over the line during their World Cup Group H match in the Pantanal Arena in Cuiaba on Tueaday. PHOTO: AFP

Igor Akinfeev fronted up after his high-profile error gifted South Korea the lead in Russia's opening World Cup Group H game on Tuesday night. It would have been the easy option for the CSKA Moscow man to duck out of his media duties but to his credit he walked into the throng of Russian reporters and faced the music - albeit with his eyes to the floor like a condemned man.
"It was a kid's mistake," he said. "I take full responsibility for it. The goalkeeper of the national team should not be making errors like that."
Akinfeev, who has six times been named Russian goalkeeper of the year, had just fumbled Lee Keun-Ho's tame effort over the line to hand the initiative to the Asians before Alexander Kerzhakov equalised. It was not Akinfeev's only mistake on the night. On at least three other occasions he spilled routine shots into his goal mouth. He was lucky no Korean was around to take advantage.

Akinfeev has faced competition for the No.1 shirt before with Vyacheslav Malafeev and Vladimir Gabulov preferred at times during his period with the national team. Calls for the inclusion of young Zenit St Petersburg pretender Yuri Lodygin may increase after Akinfeev's howler. "Lodygin is already at Akinfeev's level and I can see him taking over in the near future," former Spartak Moscow president Andri Chervichenko told Sports.ru earlier in the year.
Now is not the first time Akinfeev has been called into question this year. His form for CSKA Moscow throughout their title-winning season in the Russian Premier League wavered. He came under close scrutiny in March when his inexplicable error cost CSKA the derby against Dynamo Moscow. Sloppy footwork allowed national team colleague Yuri Zhirkov to nip in and make it 4-2 and put the game beyond the reach of the Army Men.
Calls for Akinfeev to be dropped in favour of the Zenit man may be hasty but it will certainly be on coach Fabio Capello's mind despite his assertions to the contrary in the post-match press conference.
"A keeper can always make a mistake," he said. "We can accept a mistake from a great goalkeeper, which is what Akinfeev is."