AN EASY PROBLEM TO FIX:

Those inside Luzhniki Stadium described a crowd reaction ranging from disappointed to сердитый. Which, in Russian, means angry, grumpy, irate, cross, gruff, surly ... or all of the above.

Irish Independent Football Correspondent Daniel McDonnell tweeted, "Danish fans trying and failing to sing over chorus of boos from angry Russians. Imagine spending your hard earned on getting one World Cup ticket and ending up with this rubbish."

Added Stuart James of The Guardian, "Match 37, to give the fixture its official FIFA title, ended goalless and was played out to a soundtrack of whistles and rumbling of discontent, followed by loud boos at the final whistle."

It was a sluggish match with minimal attacking and few if any scoring chances. There was a lot of kicking the ball around midfield, and Danish players mostly hung back to play defense.

All by design.

Denmark needed only a tie, scoreless or otherwise, to stay alive in the tournament and qualify as one of the final 16 teams in the knockout stage. France already had qualified. Essentially, not much reason to play the kind of exciting football that's been a hallmark of this up-to-now successful and engaging World Cup.

So the discontent really appeared less about the scoreboard, and more about the action -- or lack thereof -- on the pitch.

And this is an important point.

Because soccer fans, real soccer fans, will tell you there's absolutely nothing wrong with a nil-nil draw. It's all about how you get there.

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