Alan Dzagoev, the two-goal hero in Russia's opening 4-1 Group A victory, has earnt the admiration of a former star player.
Dzagoev's performance was enough to earn him the vote of man-of-the-match from former Croatia and Real Madrid striker Davor Suker.
And it's that recognition for the talented 21-year-old that particularly pleased his national team coach Dick Advocaat.
"I'm really happy that a player of Suker's quality gave him the man-of-the-match award because he was a really good player and (Dzagoev) can learn a lot from him," said Advocaat.
"Alan played in all our qualification games, he's got a lot of talent.
Rumoured to be being tracked by Manchester United and Arsenal amongst others, a few displays like this one could see Dzagoev becoming a household name before long.
Source: AFP
