SAMARA, Russia — It was a low rumble, and it could barely be heard beneath the raucous noise emanating from the part of Montevideo that had been transplanted to the banks of the Volga. Still, it was there and it was the sound that Russia’s players had long feared would be the background track to their tournament, the sound that they had seemed to have outrun.
On Monday, that sound caught up with them, at least a little bit. For as they left the field at the Cosmos Arena, not so much beaten by Uruguay as disdainfully swatted aside, Russia’s players actually heard some jeers from their own fans.