Russia: Hiddink’s Fast Learners of Euro 2008

Strikers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin netted a goal each as Russia blanked Sweden 2-0 to grab the second place in Group D at Euro 2008, securing a spot in the quarterfinals. Russia ended with six points from three games, trailing behind Spain which on Wednesday beat eliminated champion Greece 2-1 in Salzburg to keep a clean sheet with nine points.

To book a place in the quarters, Russia needed a win, while its Scan­dinavian opponents could have advanced with a draw. Russia will now play the Group C winner, Holland, in the June 21 quarterfinal to be held at Basel's St. Jakob stadium.

Wednesday's game saw the return to the starting lineup of Zenit St. Peters­burg forward Arshavin who sat out the first two games against Spain and Greece due to an earlier suspension. Hiddink played the 4-4-2 system, placing Arshavin alongside Spartak Moscow's Pavlyuchenko up front. Sweden coach Lars Lagerback also stuck to the same system, with Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic occupying the strikers' positions.

During the first 15 minutes of play at Innsbruck's sold out Tivoli Neu stadium, the game abounded in fierce tackles and struggle for ball control from box to box. However, Russia gradually established dominance, mostly owing to its midfielders' quick pace and neat passing that helped swiftly cover huge chunks of the pitch.

Pavlyuchenko put his name on the scorers' sheet in the 24th minute after latching around the penalty kick spot onto a cross by right wingback Alexan­der Anyukov. Three minutes later Sweden came closest to scoring a goal during the entire 90 minutes, but Larsson's header struck the crossbar.

Hiddink's team reacted by piling even more pressure on the Swedish defense, which kept cracking under the tide of Russian attacks. In the 36th minute Pavlyuchenko could have doubled the lead, but his thundering right-footed drive hit the crossbar.

Four minutes after the interval, Russia did score, though - an inspired Arshavin tore into Sweden's box where he was fed a cross by left winger Yuri Zhirkov. Textbook finishing by the St. Petersburg-born striker left Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson without a chance, 2-0.

Ten minutes from time Russian midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov tests Isaksson again, this time capping an almost 40-yard run with a superb drive that deflects off a Swedish defender into a goalpost.

With time running out, Lagerback desperately launched an onslaught on Igor Akinfeyev's goal, using four (!) forwards, but their efforts had been to no avail. Moreover, the Swedes' attacking efforts left pockets of empty space on their own half, providing Russia with counterattacking opportunities. Despite the comfortable two-goal advantage, Hiddink's players weren't complacent and continued looking for another goal. They nearly found it in injury time as an almost pinball-like array of shots from close range ended with a Swedish clearance.

Following the 1-4 thumping by Spain in the group games' opener, Russia's Dutch manager spoke about defensive blunders his players were committing.

"If you saw the second and fourth goals - some school teams do not commit those errors," said Hiddink. "We were rather naive in some situations. We were given a lesson in counter-attacking."

Hiddink added that things could be mended if his players could quickly learn from the Spainsh defeat. The 1-0 win against Greece in Russia's second match of the Euro 2008 campaign proved lessons had been learned.

However, with only a victory against Sweden seeing them through to quarters, many observers feared Russia would struggle to beat the side that boasts Internazionale forward Ibrahi­movic, who enjoys the reputation of one the world's top strikers today.

The fears were groundless as Rus­sia's midfield quartet stifled its opponents and gained advantage that proved crucial.

Now Russia will take on Hiddink's native Holland, which he coached in the mid-1990s.

"I know the way we play we get respect because we play with the concepts that football should be played with, like Holland," Hiddink told a postgame press conference Wed­nesday. "I don't know if they fear us, but they have five days more rest, which is an advantage."

He added: "I'm very proud of my team and the progress they have made in the last few days. They play modern football."

By Bojan Soc of Moscow News Sports