Russia beat Sweden 2-0 in an impressive display to advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship. This is the first time in recent history that Russia has reached the knockout stage of the tournament
Russia needed a victory to progress further and tried to put pressure on the Swedes right from the start. The Scandinavians, who it seemed were hoping to play on the counterattack, were not ready for such an onslaught. The Swedes' defense began to make mistakes, but at first this did not lead to any serious chances.
However, the first major failure on the left flank of defence in the middle of the first half ended with Sweden conceding a goal. Pavlyuchenko finished off a neat move involving Arshavin, Zyryanov, and Anyukov.
This goal radically changed the situation. Now the Swedes had to score. This allowed Russia to go on the counterattack. Unfortunately, Bilyaletdinov and Roman Pavlyuchenko failed to convert two good opportunities in the first half.
In fairness, it must be said that the end of the first half was dictated by the Swedes, who had a number of good attacks, two or three of which could have ended badly for the Russians.
Less than five minutes into the second half, following a quick move, Arshavin scored Russia's second. After this the Swedes seized the initiative for a short period, but failed to create any real opportunities.
Towards the end of the game Sweden's head coach Lars Lagerbek staked everything. In place of the midfielder Mikael Nilsson he brought on a third attacker, Marcus Allback, but it looked like a desperate move.
The result was a well-deserved victory for Russia. They will now meet the Dutch in the quarterfinals. Holland achieved the best results in the group stage of the tournament, beating the world champions Italy and runners-up France. Holland are one of the favourites for the title.
Russia will be the underdogs against Holland. If the Dutch play as they did against the Italians and the French, the chances of Russia progressing any further in the tournament will be virtually zero.
Petr Mikhalchuk
Photo: ITAR-TASS
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