Russia defender Vasili Berezutskiy has admitted that his team should have beaten South Korea in their opening match of the World Cup.

A mistake from goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev gave the Koreans the lead on Tuesday night before Aleksandr Kerzhakov salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Russians.

Despite avoiding defeat in their first game of the tournament, Berezutskiy believes that Russia should have come away with the win.

"I really feel we should have come out of this game with a win," he told FIFA.com. "We found the conditions tough; the heat and the humidity were a challenge to cope with.

"Korea also performed really well and really tested us, but ultimately we could only come away with a point. I hope the second game will be better, though it will be very tough."

Russia are back in action on Sunday when they play Belgium in Rio de Janeiro.

Written by
Jack Prescott