Russia held by Uruguay in warm-up

Russia began their warm-up for UEFA EURO 2012 with a 1-1 draw against 2010 FIFA World Cup™ semi-finalists Uruguay on Friday. Half-time substitute Alexander Kerzhakov scored for the hosts to level just a minute after Liverpool striker Luis Suarez had put Uruguay into the lead. "We performed well looking adequate against a side which are currently third in the world," Russia manager Dick Advocaat said. "Both the result and our performance tonight against serious rivals showed that we're on the right way in our preparations for the EURO championships. We have more home work to do but we still have some time for it." "It was a good warm-up match," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said. "In general we played well and achieved a good result playing away against strong opponents."Russia, spurred on by the 22,000 home crowd, started in lively fashion at the Moscow Lokomotiv stadium, pinning the South American champions back in an attempt to score an early goal. But the Uruguay defence held firm, stifling Russian attacks with Galatasaray keeper Fernando Muslera in complete command. The visitors soon seized the initiative and created two clear chances midway through the first half but Suarez and Edinson Cavani, who won the Italian Cup with Napoli last weekend, were lacking accuracy in front of Russia's net. Two minutes after the interval Suarez put Uruguay ahead firing home from just inside the box, but Kerzhakov levelled just a minute later beating Muslera from close range after Roman Shirokov's feeding pass. In the 53rd minute Shirokov stole the ball from Uruguay skipper Diego Lugano in the box but fired wide. Kerzhakov scored again in the 72nd minute but his goal was ruled offside. Two minutes later Kerzhakov performed a piece of good individual work on his way to Uruguay's area forcing Muslera into a diving save to keep the scoreline unchanged. Diego Forlan missed Uruguay's last chance for the winner with five minutes to go when his powerful 30-metre shot was confidently stopped by Russian keeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev.