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.
