SoccerNet Live

The following was guest blogged by Chris Rivers from Betting Fair.  

Have we seen the winners of Euro 2008 play? I would say no despite the brilliant performance from Spain last night. The Spanish have matched the start they made in the World Cup two years when they put four past the Ukraine and just as it was then now they have developed a lot of hype with their display last night. Unfortunately they shot their bolt too early and ended up being embarrassed by the French in the quarter finals.

Two years on though and Luis Aragones seems to have got things right this time around, he has changed the formation and last night it worked a treat as they ripped through the Russian’s on a number occasions and perhaps should have had more than the four they ended up scoring.

It’s easy to pick out David Villa as the star player and rightly so because he was absolutely brilliant not only with his hat-trick but the way he worked hard for the team all night, coming off the pitch shattered but I imagine very pleased with his nights work and I hope he ended up getting the match ball because they showed clips of the referee refusing to give the ball away at the end of the game, it would be a shame for Villa not to have a memento from such a marvelous night for the 26-year-old. Villa’s hat trick didn’t only bring joy to the Spanish faithful, click here to read more.

I think Villa will have grabbed the attention of the footballing world and already the speculation has begun that the striker will be making a move to the Premier League next season with Arsenal and Chelsea registering their interest in Villa but you imagine it would take a great deal of money for Valencia to part company with him.

But Villa wasn’t the only one to grab my attention last night because Spain seem to have finally found the defensive midfielder they have been lacking for years in Marcos Senna. I admit that I haven’t seen the Villareal midfielder play much this season but what I saw of him last night impressed me greatly. I don’t remember him wasting more than a handful of passes despite being on the ball so often along with his ability to break up the play he could become on of the stars of the tournament if he carries on like that and could finally help Spain to their first major trophy.

Along with Senna and Villa the likes of Fernando Torres, David Silva and Xavi all played their parts in what was a wonderful night for the Spanish. The Russian’s didn’t stand much of a chance although Guus Hiddink’s decision to switch his defence around was, as he described it, naïve. In fact Hiddink used that to describe his teams defending as they were cut apart.

The likes of Shirkov and Kolodin looked susceptible all evening, their lack of speed and mobility ended up costing them dearly and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kolodin was dropped for the next game against Russia with Hiddink perhaps bringing in Sergi Iganshevich to try and sort things out at the back.

In fact I was very disappointed with the Russian’s last night, whilst they showed us they can break sides down and they, like the Spanish, could have had more than the one goal they scored if luck had been on their side. The problem was they showed no urgency in their play when they went behind and in the end it cost them.

Some of their play was very predictable, they continue to play long ball into the Spanish defence which Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchenea dealt managed to deal with easily for the majority of the game. Whilst the Russian’s seemed very good technically they seemed to lack ambition and confidence, two aspects they will have to work on if they are to progress from Group D. If you do fancy the Russian’s to qualify then click football betting.

Right from the word go it was clear the Russian’s were in for a look night, although it took Spain until the 20th minute to establish a lead after Russia’s attack broke down Joan Capedevila released Torres with an excellent pass leaving the Liverpool man to sprint away towards goal before cutting the ball back brilliantly to Villa as he tapped in the first of the night.

The Russian’s nearly answered back straight away though when Dmitri Sychey broke down the right, before sending in a low cross which somehow avoided a collection of red shirts before arriving at the feet of Konstainin Zyryanov. His effort clipped the inside of the post and rebounded back out as Russia were left ruing their luck.

Things got worse for the Russian’s on the stroke of half time when David Villa got his second after a lightening quick counter attack, reminiscent of the Dutch on Monday night, ended with Villa slipping the ball between the legs of Akinfeev for 2-0.

Despite a spirited Russian come back after the start of the second half Hiddink’s men couldn’t find a way through a 15 minutes from the end a marvellous pass from substitute Cesc Fabregas released Villa again who showed some exquisite control and skill before sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to beat him at his near post.

Russia finally got some just reward four minutes from the end when sloppy marking from a corner allowed Roman Pavlyuchenko to nod home from close range before the Spanish completed an emphatic win in stoppage time thanks to more great play from Villa, his lobbed pass allowing Xavi to have a strike at goal on the volley on for Akinfeev’s save to be parried out for Fabregas who headed home, albeit from an offside position which the assistant referee failed to notice.

Popularity: 42% [?]