Preview GRE-RUS: Quarterfinals One Point Away

June 16th, 2012 | by: nick | Comments(1)

Russia are on the brink of reaching the quarterfinals if they avoid defeat against Greece. A defeat may not necessarily mean elimination, as the result from the Czech Republic-Poland match will influence the standings. The two sides faced each other in the last two European Championships. In 2004, Russia, who were already eliminated after early defeats to Spain and Portugal, defeated Greece 2-1 in Faro, Portugal. The second meeting came under completely different circumstances as Russia walked away with a 1-0 victory and a serious chance to progress to the quarterfinals. Today’s meeting will sort out Group A.

Lineup/Formation
There will likely be a few changes to tweak the lineup up that played against Poland and the Czech Republic. The most talked about change is Kerzhakov being replaced with Roman Pavlyuchenko or Pavel Porgebnyak. Aleksandr Kokorin has been ruled out due to injury. Advocaat may also make a change at the back or in the defensive midfield to shore up any defensive issues that occurred against Poland.

Formation wise, the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 which was lineup against the Czech Republic and Poland will likely take the field against the Greece. With Arshavin and Dzagoev on the wings, Russia will have the opportunity to exploit the flank weaknesses that Greece exhibited in their first two matches.

Players to Watch
Alan Dzagoev: With two goals already in the tournament, there is no reason for Dzagoev to not make it onto the score sheet.

Roman Shirokov: Given how Greece broke down in the center against the Czech Republic, Roman Shirokov, could be on the score sheet.

The game will be on ESPN2 at 2:30PM EDT in the US