Report - Russia 0 - 3 Spain
In the end, a match that was billed as an odds-on classic rather unsurprisingly flattered to decieve. The Russians in particular, so awe-inspiring against the Dutch in the last round, were awful, never looking like the side that they promised to be.
The early moves were dominated by Spain, but Russia defended in numbers and, like against the Italians in the quarter finals, Spain struggled to force their way through the wall of players. Fernando Torres broke through after six minutes, but his touch was poor all night, and he struggled to get a shot away.
Torres had a penalty shout a few minutes later, when he seemed to be held back by Sergei Ignashevich, but referee Frank De Bleeckere wean't convinced. Sergio Ramos, one of the few players who seemed able to make something happen in the first period, had a hopeful shot saved shortly after.
The weather didn't help the quality of the football, with a thunderstorm lighting up the sky above the stadium, and a downpour soaking the players. Russia begn to craft a few chances late in the half, as Pavlyuchenko saw a shot curl wide of Casillas's goal.
Spain's David Villa went off after 35 minutes, which could have been a blow to the Spaniards, but it allowed Cesc Fabregas to come on in his place, and Fabregas ended up becoming the focal point for Spain's play, as he looked to press his case to become part of the Spanish starting eleven in the final.
As dire as the first half was, the second half began better, and Spain grabbed the lead straight away, thanks to some great work from Andreas Iniesta, who controlled the ball well on the left of the penalty area, and sent a cross-cum-shot across the face of Akinfeev's goal, where it was bet by Xavi Hernandez, who poked it home to give Spain the advantage.
Russia made changes in an attempt to force some sort of life into their game, but it didn't work, and Spain continued to press with Torres shooting wide and having another couple of chances for a penalty turned down by the referee, before he was taken off for Daniel Guiza, after a disappointing game for the Liverpool man.
Guiza took less than ten minutes to have an impact, capping off a slick Spanish move after Fabregas lofted the ball to him, for the youngster to beat the offside trap, chest the ball down and then lift it delicately past Akinfeev and double Spain's lead.
The Spanish finished off the wilting Russian resistance with 8 minutes to go, as Iniesta released Fabregas down the left hand channel, and the Arsenal midfielder found David Silva unmarked in the area, who fired triumphantly into the net and completed the rout.
The Russians will be disappointed with the performance they mustered here, particularly as we have seen them play so much better throughout the rest of the tournament, but in the end the new-foud stars of Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko and Zhirkov were simply too anonymous when it mattered here.
For Spain, the long wait for a trophy may be over, but they must beat the renewed resiliance of Germany in order to do it. Though on this display, you would find it difficult to bet against them.
Result
| Russia | 0 | Spain | 3 |
| Xavi 50' | |||
| Guiza 73' | |||
| Silva 82' |
Teams
Russia: Akinfeev, Berezutski, Ignashevich, Saenko (57 Sychev), Arshavin, Semak, Zyryanov, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko, Semshov (56 Bilyaletdinov), Anyukov.
Spain: Casillas, Marchena, Puyol, Iniesta, Villa (34 Fabregas), Xavi (69 Alonso), Torres (69 Guiza), Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Senna, Silva.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
