RUS 0-3 ESP: Russia exit proudly to Spain

June 26th, 2008 | by: Nick |

Hello to all. Well Russia’s campaign has come to an end after a 0-3 loss to Spain in the semi-finals. Given this was the semi-finals, I think that the Russian team can exit this tournament proudly after putting up a good display. This was the best football I’ve seen from the Russian national team since I can remember. Having watched the 2002 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2004, its pretty obvious this is the best Russian team since the fall of the Soviet Union.

I have to say that Spain shook the Russian defence just like they did on June 10. I am not sure the Russian defending held as well as they did against Greece, Sweden, and the Netherlands. I think that the absence of Kolodin was definitely seen. But Iganashevich and V. Berezustki made an effort to close down the Spanish attack. Zhirkov and Anyukov are definitely worth mentioning as they contributed to the defence and the attack. Over the they were able to keep a 0-0 scoreline until half time. However the defence did become leaky in the second.

The midfield and attacking line did not hold up as well. I felt that Spain were able to close down Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko. Bilyaletdinov and Zyrianov did their best to provide assists but the Spanish were fully prepared to deal with the Russian attack. Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko definitely needed to push forward more and get around the Spanish defence. Pavlyuchenko and Saenko had a few chances but could not materialize.

Spain played well on all fronts. The defending and attacking was very good and the game speaks for itself.

Russia can look back at this tournament proudly because reaching the semi-finals in definitely an achievment for many players who took part in their first major tournament.

I wish the best of luck to Spain the final and to Russia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

This concludes my blogging for EURO 2008 and I look forward to reading your comments.

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Comments

By russian-exile | June 26th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

what a nice comment Juanes.. maybe learn something about football first?

Russia showed their lack of quality, and lack of depth in defense. The first game was lost solely because of Roman Shirokov, not from lack of skill but from lack of effort. He gave Spain 2, if not 3 goals simply by not doing his job. (#4 doesn’t matter as it was really offsides anyway). Needless to say after that disgraceful (1 out of 10) performance, Hiddink sat him for the rest of the tournament.

Ignashevich & Kolodin formed a decent defensive partnership. Ignashevich did well against the big & slow striker Ibrahimovich (who’s hurting knee helped too). Unfortunately in the Netherlands game, a dive by Van Nistelrooy gave Kolodin a yellow and would suspend him for the match against Spain. He did a fairly decent job of defending Torres in game 1, and experience not only throughout the tournament but against Villa & Torres, would come in handy, especially considering it was raining both games.

Unfortunately Hiddink had a tough choice. Ignashevich is way too slow for those 2 speedy strikers, and Shirokov couldn’t be trusted. Should he go for the Berezutski sisters? They are a bit faster than Ignashevich, but consistent, consistently bad that is. Whatever the choice was going to be, you can blaim Hiddink as it was a lose-lose situation. With the squad they had, Spain was always going to be a “bogey” team for them.. one that would be very annoying to play against. Morever the rain, I prayed it was going to be dry, but not with that thunderstorm. Rain not only caused the crappy defense and inexperienced players (as a whole team) problems, but it gave players like the Liverpool striker Torres and Fabregas a big advantage.

With that said, the team simply didn’t show up. They didn’t do what they do well, attack, and had no belief from the get-go. It’s like they had the rainy-blues. Torres was laughing the whole game, while the Russians looked depressed with a “can we go home yet” enthusiasm. Believe it or not they DID miss Torbinsky as well. What a mess.

Posted from United States

By russian-exile | June 26th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

sorry i meant you “can’t” blaim Hiddink… unless you consider before the tournament. I always thought he should have cut one or two of the mid-fielders and put some more defenders. The Berezutski twins just don’t cut it. 3-0 loss to England in Wembley anyone? Leaving Michael Owen with 5 yards of space in the box.. 2times..smart idea

Posted from United States

By Srikanth | June 27th, 2008 at 12:35 am

Hi All, I think Russian attacked lacked teeth and no comments on the defense. The team has to come out with a very good plan before locking horns with Spain again.

Posted from United States

By julien | June 27th, 2008 at 8:14 am

Russia had a great tournament. Hopefully they will continue to be successful. They should really try to keep Hiddink.

Posted from United States

By Beethoven | July 3rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm

From Germany:

I think you guys have a great and long-lasting success story ahead of you!

Your defeating of holland may have been the best match of the tournament.

You will be quite a challenge to our team in the WC qualifiers.

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