Qatar 1 Russia 1:Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first international goal in nearly 19 months to salvage a draw for Russia against Qatar in a friendly on in Doha today.

The Russians had failed to find the net in their previous three games and the Tottenham Hotspur striker finally ended his country's goal drought in the 34th minute after a nice ball from Andrei Arshavin.

Defender Mohammed Kosola gave 90th-ranked Qatar a flying start by heading home from close range after just four minutes having been left completely unmarked in front of goal.

The home team could have easily added two more in the opening 10 minutes, with Uruguay-born striker Sebastian Soria and Youssif Ahmed both hitting the post as Russia’s defence looked in disarray.

The visitors gradually found their range midway through the first half and Pavlyuchenko beat Qatar goalkeeper Mohammed Mubarak with a low drive from 10 metres.

Pavlyuchenko’s last goal for Russia came in a 3-1 win against Wales in a 2010 World Cup qualifier in September 2009.

Both teams made wholesale changes after the break but neither could break the deadlock despite numerous chances.

Substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak wasted Russia's best chance in the last minute when he fired wide from the edge of the box.