Russia vs Sweden
in Innsbruck.
Wednesday, 18th June at 20.45
The winner of this game qualifies for the
quarter-finals; Sweden will qualify if it's a draw.
An exciting start from Russia, as they sought to get an early goal
advantage.
Andrei Arshavin forced Isaksson to tip the ball over the bar, in the
20th minute, then Yuri Zhirkov volleyed just wide from the corner.
Four minutes later, Russia worked the ball collectively down the
right. As the passes continued into the Swedish penalty area, Roman Pavluchenko was in the
right place to sweep the ball past Isaksson; a terrific team goal.
At the other end, Henrik Larsson headed onto the corner of the Russian
crossbar.
Russia continued to press forward, with swift passing football, and
were unfortunate not to have at least another goal.
When Russia sat back, just before the break, Sweden took the
initiative and moved forward; but Freddie Ljungberg's shot on goal was easily pushed away
for a corner by Igor Akinfeev.
Half-time - 1:0
Once again, quick, confident passing - this time on the left -
produced Russia's much-deserved. second goal; from the man who was suspended for Russia's
first two group games - Andrei Arshavin, of UEFA Cup Winners Zenit St. Petersburg.
With just over ten minutes to go, Russia came close to putting the
game beyond Sweden's reach; as Konstantin Zyrianov's shot came off Petter Hansson's heel
and deflected on to the post . A couple of minutes later, Pavluchenko should have doubled
his tally, but just couldn't get his foot around the ball; seeming to slip as he took the
shot.
Andrei Arshavin also had a shot blocked with two minutes to go. Great
to see the Russians still going forward; having learnt what almost happened when they sat
back at the end of the first-half.
Final Score:
Russia 2 - Sweden 0
Goalscorers:
1:0 Roman Pavluchenko (24)
2:0 Andrei Arshavin (50)
Teams
Russia:
1 Igor Akinfeev; 18 Yuri Zhirkov, 8 Denis Kolodin, 4 Sergei Ignashevich, 22 Aleksandr
Aniukov; 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, 11 Sergei Semak, 20 Igor Semshov, 17 Konstantin
Zyrianov; 10 Andrei Arshavin, 19 Roman Pavluchenko.
Sweden:
1 Andreas Isaksson; 2 Mikael Nilsson, 4 Petter Hansson, 3 Olof Mellberg, 5 Fredrik Stoor;
9 Fredrik Ljungberg, 8 Anders Svensson, 19 Daniel Andersson, 11 Johan Elmander; 10 Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, 17 Henrik Larsson.
Referee:
Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Substitutions:
56 Mins - 16 Kim Källström on for 19 Daniel Andersson
66 Mins - 9 Ivan Saenko on for 15 Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
79 Mins - 20 Marcus Allbäck on for 2 Mikael Nilsson
 5 Yellow Cards:
10 Mins - Andreas Isaksson (Sweden)
49 Mins - Johan Elmander (Sweden)
57 Mins - Sergei Semak (Russia)
65 Mins - Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
76 Mins - Denis Kolodin (Russia)
Greece vs Spain
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