Euro Wrap: Group D

Just like a few days ago in Group B, we had two matches today, one that meant nothing and the other everything. Spain took out Greece to put the final nail in Greece’s never-quite-alive title defense. But the fight for second place between Russia and Sweden finished in a surprise scoreline to no one who has seen Guus Hiddink coach tournament football, and the Russians are the next contestants on “Can Anyone Beat The Dutch?”

GROUP D	June 18th, 2045 CET, Innsbruck (Austria)
Russia 2 VS Sweden 0 Pavlyuchenko 24′, Arshavin 50′

Going into the game one could argue it was Sweden’s to lose because they had the advantage of only needing a draw. That turned out to be anything but the truth as Russia put on a counter attacking clinic and set up a joga bonito date with the Dutch in the quarterfinals on Saturday. And if you ever doubted Guus Hiddink, shame on you.

The game started one hundred percent Russian and by the time Roman Pavlyuchenko had coolly slotted home the opener from Anyukov, it was quite obvious a goal was in the offing sooner rather than later. Russia’s attack on both the wings and through the middle was shredding the aged Swedish defense. By the end of the half Sweden had regained their composure and mounted a few challenges, but they never really looked close to scoring – an unfortunate theme which took them through the end of the game. The second goal was simply more of the brilliant Russian attacking.

There were two great battles which helped decide this game:

Russia’s Vibrant Young Attack v Sweden’s Aged…Everything: Russia was simply brilliant on the counter with pace, touch, passing and vision. Their finishing leaves a bit to be desired (though Isaksson was good), but Sweden had no answer for anything and every time Russia went on the attack the yellow shirts were forced into “minimize disaster mode”.

Arshavin v Zlatan: Ibrahimovic was certainly not himself and Sweden with an on form Zlatan is a much bigger monster than the version without. On the other side, Arshavin started off his day with a brilliant 50yd long ball and only improved from there, finishing off with the final dagger into the back of the net.

So Russia and the Dutch will have neutrals salivating while Sweden goes home and attempts to get better, younger and less reliant upon Zlatan. Mighty task for them.

Here’s the second goal:

GROUP D	June 18th, 2045 CET, Salzburg (Austria)
Greece 1 VS Spain 2 Charisteas 42′   De La Red 61′, Guiza 88′

And there was the other match. Not so much in the way of drama, but actually, for the seven of us watching at home, it was actually a better match than any of us expected. Greece kept things interesting and Spain’s second string got a run out, mostly running into opposing players and getting yellow cards.

Like Holland, Spain has such an embarrassment of riches in terms of talent that their bench would all start for many other sides. The likes of Fabregas, Guiza, Arbeloa and Reina took the pitch today, all hoping to impress and at least earn some more minutes in the knockout rounds. It must be nice to run onto the field knowing that a good performance could earn you points with the coach, but a bad one won’t cost your team a thing.

For Greece, it was a very different side of the same coin, as their Euro 2008 campaign would end today no matter what the result. They were playing for honor, and FIFA ranking points, and looked to have gained a chance at both in the first half, when good old reliable #9, Angelos Charisteas, did what he does best. His header blew past Reina and suddenly the Greeks were in the unfamiliar role of leading the scoreline. Unfamiliar because until now, they hadn’t scored a goal at Euro 2008.

Spain would answer however, in the unlikely form of Ruben de la Red. His first international goal brought the match even, and forced Greece back out of their comfortable defensive posture. To their credit, they did a bit of chasing of this game, more than in any previous one. You’d like to have seen some of this spirit when it mattered.

Throughout the match, Spain was shooting absolute lasers of balls past Nikopolidis in the Greek goal. Unfortunately for Spain, they were also shooting right past the goal itself. They must have missed ten wide, and La Liga Golden Boot winner Dani Guiza was the perpetrator a number of times. However, as time ticked away, Guiza finally got on frame, and stole the win. That’s the second time this tournament that Spain has gotten a late goal to secure a 2-1 victory. One has to wonder if they’re running on a bit of luck, a commodity with a nasty habit of running out in knockout football.

Highlights:

Bracket Watch
Stay tuned here on the blog for a major announcement tomorrow on the winner of our first prize package in the Euro 2008 bracket predictor contest.