Kerzhakov rues Russia’s lack of punch up front

Russia’s Aleksandr Kerzhakov has lamented his side’s inability to find a winning goal in their 1-1 Euro 2012 draw with co-hosts Poland.

Having taken a first-half lead through Alan Dzagoev in the Group A match on Tuesday, Russia missed a chance to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament as they were pegged back by Jakub Blaszczykowski’s second-half strike.

Dick Advocaat’s Russia now go into the final round of group games knowing a draw against Greece will see them safely through to the knockout stages, but Kerzhakov rued his side’s failure to find a winner against Poland, although he admitted he was not expecting an easy game.

“No one thought that the match would be a walk in the park,” Kerzhakov said.

“In the first half we played as we did against Czech Republic, only we scored one goal less. And that was the one we needed for victory.

“We just lacked the killer pass. We counter-attacked well and there were moments of ‘four on four’ or ‘three on three’ but we couldn’t finish them.”

Despite acknowledging his side’s lack of penetration against Poland, the Zenit St Petersburg forward believes the team were not helped by the state of the pitch.

“(The grass) was worse than in the first match. In Wroclaw there was really good grass. To be honest, I’ve never seen grass like that in the finals.”