--
Fabio Capello picked a strong team for their win over Slovakia in St Petersburg with Zenit St Petersburg forward Alexander Kerzhakov heading the only goal eight minutes from time.
Alexander Kokorin thought he had put Russia in front after
latching on to a glorious through ball by Sergei Ignashevich
before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Jan Mucha but English referee Mark Clattenburg ruled the Dynamo Moscow was offside.
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Australia showed few signs that they might buck their underdog status at the World Cup as they struggled to a tepid 1-1 draw against an under-strength South Africa in Syndey.
More than 50,000 turned out at the Olympic Stadium to bid
farewell to the Socceroos before they depart for the finals but
the home side laboured to break down Bafana Bafana.
Both the goals came inside a minute early in the first half
with Ayanda Patosi's 13th-minute effort for South Africa
cancelled out by Australia's stand-in captain and leading
international goalscorer Tim Cahill.
Australia face world champions Spain, 2010 runners-up the Netherlands Chile in Brazil.
(Reporting by Dmitriy Rogovitskiy and Nick Mulvenney, writing by Mike Collett; editing by Martyn Herman)
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