PREVIEW: Euro 2008 Group D, Spain v Russia

Spain

vs

Russia

Tuesday, June 10th, 1800 CET
Innsbruck (Austria) – Travel to Innsbruck

THE BIG PICTURE

Four years ago these two squads kicked off their Euro 2004 campaigns against each other to the tune of a 1-0 Spanish win, and they’ll get to do it all over again. They’re also now two of the favorites in Group D, Spain featuring an attack on paper which looks Football Manager-esque and Russia featuring Guus Hiddink. Spain will be the favorite for every game in the group stage, but as we saw yesterday, that can mean little.

Spain

Three Key Players:
Fernando Torres – Always a star at Atletico, he blew up on the world stage this year and will be a threat to score each and every time he touches the ball, whether he’s within range of goal or not.
Cesc – Nearly impossible to believe he’s just 21, Cesc is clearly one of the best midfielders in the world and his playmaking ability will more than likely give Guus Hiddink nightmares all game long.
Carles Puyol – Leader of the back. Everyone knows about Spain’s attack, but he’s the glue in the defensive four.

Spain squad
Spain Team Profile

Team News: It seems the recently hobbled duo of Fernando Torres and David Villa are now 100% and will combine to form a two pronged attack.

Triviatastic: Spain has a history of massive underachievement, but they do have one Euros title to their name, in 1964, when they defeated the USSR in the title game. And part of the old CCCP is now Russia. Just in case you didn’t know. Good memories.

Visit the quartet of Ryan, Cesar, Elisa and Mando at the Spain Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

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Russia

Three Key Players:
Igor Akinfeev – As with many teams at this tournament, the Russian defense could be considered suspect. Igor will likely face some shots, and with Torres and Villa at the point, he’ll have to be much better than good.
Konstantin Zyrianov – Has come from nowhere to become a star in deep central midfield for club and country. With Arshavin out, they’ll need his vision.
Roman Pavlyuchenko – Something of a supersub during qualifying (hello, England), he may need to fill some of the void left by Progrebnyak up top from the get go. Hiddink recently spoke of his leaps and bounds in fitness and form recently, so he may be a breakout candidate.

Russia
Russia Team Profile

Team News: Russia has lost two of their biggest offensive weapons in Andrei Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebnyak. Pavel is out for the tournament, but Andrei has only been suspended for the first two games due to a red in qualifying. They’ll have his services in game three, but we’ll have to see if it matters.

Triviatastic: Half of Guus Hiddink’s salary is paid by Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea. The guy just cannot help but to spend money.

Visit Nick & Ivan at the Russia Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

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BIG BATTLES

Spain’s Cheeky Midfield vs Russia’s Packed Midfield One touch football can find itself running up against some difficulties when attempting to sneak through a clogged midfield and Russia plays five. With Russia’s defense having difficulties in areas, limiting attacking Spanish chances will help.

Igor Akinfeev vs Fernando Torres Akinfeev is a stalwart and future superstar at the ripe old age of 21, so the quality is there, but he missed a sizable chunk of qualifying with an injury, and just worked himself firmly back into the No. 1 slot. So he gets to meet up with one of the most on form and potent strikers on the planet in the first game of the tournament. Nice.

Spain vs Expectations This year, like so many others, we say “this is it, they’re too talented to fail again”. Yet every year, that’s what they do. This year? They’re too talented, once again. Will they fall under the weight of expectations or will this be the year they break through the great barrier of underachievement.

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