English
Euro 2008: Spain crush Russia to reach Euro 2008 final
 Xavi celebrates after putting Spain ahead against Russia |
Spain produced a superb display to cruise past Russia and set up a Euro 2008 final against Germany on Sunday.
Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas was the driving force behind the win after coming on as substitute for injured David Villa.
Xavi turned home Andres Iniesta’s cross after 50 minutes and substitute Daniel Guiza converted a superb pass from Fabregas with 17 minutes left.
Fabregas played in David Silva for a simple third after 82 minutes as a disappointing Russia ended well beaten.
The only cloud on Spain’s horizon was the first-half injury to Villa, who will now miss the final clash with Germany in Vienna.
 |
Russia never threatened to produce the attacking firepower that saw them dump out Holland in the last eight, and playmaker Andrei Arshavin was an anonymous figure throughout.
Arshavin entered the game with a huge weight of expectation on his shoulders, as well as transfer interest from Barcelona, but failed to deliver.
Spain were outstanding as they inflicted another heavy defeat on Guus Hiddink’s side, as they had done in the group stages and were rarely under pressure.
Veteran coach Luis Aragones now looks to have put together a side capable of ending the years of under-achievement, even making light of that injury to the influential Villa.
Spain made a positive start, with the partnership of Villa and Torres demonstrating their threat early on.
Villa slipped in Torres for a shot that was saved by Igor Akinfeev, then forced the Russia keeper into a smart save down at his post with a long-range effort.
Russia’s only early effort was a free-kick from Roman Pavlyuchenko that was off target as Spain dominated territory and possession.
Villa fired in another free-kick that was saved by Akinfeev after 28 minutes, but appeared to injure himself and limped off shortly afterwards, to be replaced by Fabregas.
It was a pivotal moment, with Fabregas more than compensating for the departure of Villa by delivered a midfield master-class.
Spain took a fully-deserved lead after 50 minutes when Xavi arrived to perfection to slid home Iniesta’s driven cross.
Fabregas was pulling the strings, first setting up Torres for a shot that the Liverpool striker curled off target.
Torres then slid another glorious chance wide after a fine run and cross from Sergio Ramos in what was his final contribution of a tireless performance.
He was replaced by Guiza, with Liverpool team-mate Xabi Alonso coming on for goalscorer Xavi.
And Guiza showed his prowess as a finisher when he scored Spain’s second after 73 minutes, lifting Fabregas’s superb pass over Akinfeev.
Fabregas was running the game, and he produced another piece of superb creation to set up Silva for a precise finish with eight minutes left.
Spain keeper Iker Casillas was finally forced into action with three minutes remaining, saving superbly from Dmitry Sychev’s header.
But it was a minor interruption to Spain’s path into the final, and Akinfeev had to save well from Guiza as they threatened to make their victory margin more convincing.
Russia: Akinfeev, Aniukov, Vasili Berezutsky, Ignashevich, Zhirkov, Semak, Zyryanov, Semshov (Bilyaletdinov 56), Saenko (Sychev 57), Pavluchenko, Arshavin.
Subs Not Used: Gabulov, Malafeev, Yanbaev, Alexei Berezutsky, Adamov, Ivanov, Shirokov, Bystrov.
Booked: Zhirkov, Bilyaletdinov.
Spain: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Marchena, Puyol, Capdevila, Iniesta, Xavi (Alonso 69), Senna, Silva, Villa (Fabregas 34), Torres (Guiza 69).
Subs Not Used: Palop, Reina, Albiol, Fernando Navarro, Santi Cazorla, Sergio Garcia, Arbeloa, Juanito, De la Red.
Goals: Xavi 50, Guiza 73, Silva 82.
Att: 50,000
Ref: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium).
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Spain’s Cesc Fabregas 8.01 (on 90 minutes). Source: BBC
More Top News
Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro and Al Pacino reunited on the red carpet in New York Wednesday night for the premiere of their new crime thriller “Righteous Kill” — their first film together since making 1995’s “Heat.”
The movie also stars
The Pakistani Army has been given orders to retaliate against any unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country.
Army Spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas confirmed the orders in a brief interview with Geo News on late Thursday night.
The
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he will not accept military action or new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear activities.
“We should not take any unilateral steps. It is not acceptable to opt for a military scenario. It would be dangerous,”
As the world marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11, some European experts say security improvements in the US have been undercut by fairly basic mistakes. Among the remedies is more trust in America’s laws and allies.
Seven years after the attacks
David Miliband has allegedly come in for a rather undiplomatic tongue-lashing from his Russian counterpart.
The Foreign Secretary was apparently given a furious dressing down by Sergei Lavrov over the telephone.
Mr Miliband’s criticism of Russia’s recent incursion into Georgia is believed
PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - A South African judge ruled Friday that prosecutors were wrong to charge ANC President Jacob Zuma with corruption, effectively clearing way for the 66-year-old former freedom fighter to become the country’s next president.
Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling
Thailand’s political turmoil deepened Friday when the ruling coalition failed to turn up to parliament to reelect leader Samak Sundaravej as prime minister.
Lawmakers from the six-party coalition did not attend an emergency session of parliament called to choose a prime minister, three days after a court stripped Samak of power for accepting payments for hosting
Feeds