Perusing World Cup Passing Data: The Fascinating Case of Mario Fernandes

So I was looking for the "best" and "worst" pass of my precious little types of pass* to center a piece around them, but when I looked at the top and bottom 10 passes for players I found a can't miss hook: Mario Fernandes was on both lists. The "Russian" right back (he was born Brazilian and Putin decreed citizenship on him) was most famous for missing the goal entirely in the shootout against Croatia in what was a devastating loss for the neutral who surely was pulling for the Russians, after all they've been through with such a home crowd behind them roaring them on, flying all over the field, giving their all. But I digress; this is about Fernandes. He was known for that painful penalty miss; but maybe no longer after this article catches fire.

*each pass is assigned to one of 30 "pass types" for easier summarization and analysis

The best pass list generally features players from the best passing teams: Toni Kroos is on there, Sergio Ramos, and Jan Vertonghen twice. No surprise really. But then for some reason, two different Russians are on there, both crossing the ball from the right wing. They both are completing crazy high rates of this pass:

Then here he is, back in his own half, putting up numbers like he's playing for Cardiff facing Man City.

So what is going on? My first thought was basically the clustering was too broad and the Russians were sort of gaming the system by playing short or easier type passes than the normal pass in cluster 29 while doing the opposite in cluster 5.