Spain - Russia (SF) (26 Jun 08)

[shahz_nerazzurri]

Cant wait for this game.
I am completely supporting Russia. Hate the Spaniards cause of Fabregas and Torres.
About time Arshavin and Pavlyuchecnko show these mofo's how real players work.
Spanish defence is pretty weak, I think Arshavin can have another ball day.

[M.Adnan]

I expect Russia to win. I wasn't impressed by the way Spain played against Italy.

Torres. Anyone remembers what he did to Zanetti? I hate this player.

[Luka]

I think a lot people will root for Russia in this game, a lot more than half of who's watching. And who can blame them.

I sign under all that Shahz has said.

[Hammoudi]

I am with Spain and I expect them to win.

If this current group of young Spanish players win something, then they will be a force for years to come.

[lonewolf19]

I am with Spain also if Torres doesnt play

[Luka]

Ok this is it. Lets hope Spain will crush and burn today

Go Andrei go!

[Luka]

Arshavin isn't fresh. He looks deadly exhausted, and it's just the first half. He is mostly walking on the field.

[Azzkikr]

Hes had 4 full days to rest.... He cant be that tired.

Shame about the weather, its really ruining the game, i hope it wont be a second half like Swizz-turkey where the weather was very bad as well.

[Luka]

Talking about brutality, and bringing all hopes down

Practicly the only russian player playing good, was Beresutsky, who played 3 minutes in this tournament.

Seems Russia burned all their fuel in Dutch game. Kind of a mystery here.

[Adam]

No mystery. The Dutch players were clearly affected by the fact one of their players lost a newborn, and lost a bit of motivation because of it. Think about it, Yeeeah we scored a goal! Oh right your kid died...

It's normal that Hiddink played defensive for the first 50 minutes or so keeping in mind the last encounter, and after Spain scored their first it was basicly over. A team like Spain that can pass forever will tire their opponent to making mistakes, and Russia had to attack so the scoreline isn't surprising. Would of been different had Russia scored first.

[Alex de Large]

I don't know how they could win Holland, they are nothing special. Probably Turkey is even better...

[lonewolf19]

The dutch just had a bad day.
Awesome attacking football from Spain

[Luka]

No mystery. The Dutch players were clearly affected by the fact one of their players lost a newborn, and lost a bit of motivation because of it. Think about it, Yeeeah we scored a goal! Oh right your kid died...

It's normal that Hiddink played defensive for the first 50 minutes or so keeping in mind the last encounter, and after Spain scored their first it was basicly over. A team like Spain that can pass forever will tire their opponent to making mistakes, and Russia had to attack so the scoreline isn't surprising. Would of been different had Russia scored first.

I agree with all you've said about Spain playing with the ball.

But it was obvious to me from the first minute that Russia was different. They moved different, and most of it they were slower. One of the experts after this game showed a couple of images to underline how Arshavin looked today, something that was clearly seen from the first minute. Arshavin was kind of a mirror for the whole Russian team yesterday.

When a player in 20th, or 30th minute when there is a set-piece brake, is leaning over his knees, with hard breathing, and can't stand straight it's not normal.

I was reffering to the physical aspect of Russian by "mystery".

Maybe Hollands low determination have eaten them up, I don't know. But in Russias case they looked tired and not fresh from the first minute. They weren't as aggresive as in Holland game, they didn't make even a few good sliding tackles like they did in Dutch game, they didn't run so much, they didn't show themselves on positions to pass to.

I'm not taking anything from Spain. They played a great game, and hope npw they will win, cause I can't stand Germany. I hoped it will be Russia, but if not Russia, then Spain it is. But just a glimpse of first 10 minutes in Holland and Russia game shows that Russians yesterday weren't themselves.

[M.Adnan]

This is the first time I see Russia in this Tournament. Reading what you guys have been saying about Russia and Arshavin, I thought that Spain had no chance to win. Well, guess again..

Horrible performance. Spain were attacking despite leading the game.

I still highly rate Hidink. I think the players were the problem, not him.

[Hammoudi]

Marco Senna is a beast, Spain never had a player like him. There was a stat in the Italy game that he made like 40 passes with an accuracy of 90% of something.

About Holland, no team attacked them before so they never felt pressure. Neither Italy, France or Romania had an offensive scheme, so Holland rolled over them.

Any smart tactician would have realized how weak the dutch defence was and attacked them relentlessly. You might concede 3-4 goals, but if you score one more that is what matters.

[Alex de Large]

Senna is a top4 player for Spain in this Euro, probably along with Casillas, Villa, and the 2 CB's.
He is definitely much better than Albelda.

I don't really know why Raul and Albelda suck this much? Spain was really bad with them.