No more Hiddink's magic
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Spain produced a superb second-half display to demolish Russia 3-0 and carried them through to their first European Championship final in 24 years.
Spain will now return to Vienna to clash Germany in the Sunday's final to end their 48-year trophy drought.
Russia boss Guus Hiddink made only one change to his starting XI, with Vasily Berezutsky replacing suspended defender Denis Kolodin.
While Spain coach Luis Aragones fielded his regular line-up in the tournament with Fernando Torres partnering David Villa up-front.
Both teams made a lively start, although in the pouring rain, but the Spanish side suffered a blow on 34th-minute when Villa, who had scored a hat-trick when the two sides had met earlier, was forced to leave the field with a leg injury.
The leading scorer in the tournament picked up the knock when he took a free-kick couple of minutes earlier.
Cesc FÃ bregas was brought on in place of the Valencia hitman with Spain now changing their formation to a 4-5-1 set-up.
Following a fascinating but cagey first half, Spain broke the deadlock five minutes after the break when their Barcelona midfielders combining to deadly finish.
Andrés Iniesta eluded Alexander Anyukov on the left before unleashing a shot into the box where Xavi arrived unmarked to stab a volley through Igor Akinfeev's legs.
The Spaniards finally killed off Russia's hopes of a comeback 17 minutes from time through substitute Dani Güiza, who replaced Torres six minutes before he scored.
Two Spanish substitutes were combined as Fà bregas flicked the ball over the Russia defence and Güiza beat the offside trap to dink the ball coolly past the onrushing Akinfeev.
La Furia Roja then filled up misery on a wounded Russia on 82nd-minute when FÃ bregas raced down the left and set up a delicate pass for David Silva who he had enough time to take a touch before calmly stroking the ball past Akinfeev.
Spain totally deserving the victory as their midfield dominated and created plenty of chances for the strikers.
They were always the more controlled and when they let their passing game flow in the second half they proved to be one step too far for the Russians.
Playmaker Andrei Arshavin had been vaunted as the top of many big clubs wanted list but his performance was a huge disappointment.
The Zenith St Petersburg forward was not given the time or space by the Spanish, in particular midfielder Marcos Senna, forcing him even deeper into midfield.
Hiddink said that his team simply could not keep chasing shadows as Spain pinged the ball around.
However, Hiddink had already surpassed expectations by leading his side to last four and he was proud of his players and the way they have played during this tournament.
The victory gives Spain a chance to throw its status as one of the biggest underachievers.
Despite decades of producing great players, Spain's only major tournament title came at the Euro 1964 when they hosted the competition and beat Russia's predecessors, the Soviet Union.
Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeev; 22-Alexander Anyukov, 2-Vasily Berezutsky, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 11-Sergei Semak, 20-Igor Semshov (15-Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 56), 9-Ivan Saenko (21-Dmitry Sychev 57); 10-Andrei Arshavin, 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol, 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 19-Marcos Senna; 6-Andrés Iniesta, 8-Xavi (14-Xabi Alonso 69), 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa (10-Cesc Fà bregas 35), 9-Fernando Torres (17-Daniel Güiza 69)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
Also see:
Spain will now return to Vienna to clash Germany in the Sunday's final to end their 48-year trophy drought.
Russia boss Guus Hiddink made only one change to his starting XI, with Vasily Berezutsky replacing suspended defender Denis Kolodin.
While Spain coach Luis Aragones fielded his regular line-up in the tournament with Fernando Torres partnering David Villa up-front.
Both teams made a lively start, although in the pouring rain, but the Spanish side suffered a blow on 34th-minute when Villa, who had scored a hat-trick when the two sides had met earlier, was forced to leave the field with a leg injury.
The leading scorer in the tournament picked up the knock when he took a free-kick couple of minutes earlier.
Cesc FÃ bregas was brought on in place of the Valencia hitman with Spain now changing their formation to a 4-5-1 set-up.
Following a fascinating but cagey first half, Spain broke the deadlock five minutes after the break when their Barcelona midfielders combining to deadly finish.
Andrés Iniesta eluded Alexander Anyukov on the left before unleashing a shot into the box where Xavi arrived unmarked to stab a volley through Igor Akinfeev's legs.
The Spaniards finally killed off Russia's hopes of a comeback 17 minutes from time through substitute Dani Güiza, who replaced Torres six minutes before he scored.
Two Spanish substitutes were combined as Fà bregas flicked the ball over the Russia defence and Güiza beat the offside trap to dink the ball coolly past the onrushing Akinfeev.
La Furia Roja then filled up misery on a wounded Russia on 82nd-minute when FÃ bregas raced down the left and set up a delicate pass for David Silva who he had enough time to take a touch before calmly stroking the ball past Akinfeev.
Spain totally deserving the victory as their midfield dominated and created plenty of chances for the strikers.
They were always the more controlled and when they let their passing game flow in the second half they proved to be one step too far for the Russians.
Playmaker Andrei Arshavin had been vaunted as the top of many big clubs wanted list but his performance was a huge disappointment.
The Zenith St Petersburg forward was not given the time or space by the Spanish, in particular midfielder Marcos Senna, forcing him even deeper into midfield.
Hiddink said that his team simply could not keep chasing shadows as Spain pinged the ball around.
However, Hiddink had already surpassed expectations by leading his side to last four and he was proud of his players and the way they have played during this tournament.
The victory gives Spain a chance to throw its status as one of the biggest underachievers.
Despite decades of producing great players, Spain's only major tournament title came at the Euro 1964 when they hosted the competition and beat Russia's predecessors, the Soviet Union.
| Russia |  | 0 - 3 |  | Spain |
| Xavi 50 | ||||
| Daniel Güiza 73 | ||||
| David Silva 82 |
Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeev; 22-Alexander Anyukov, 2-Vasily Berezutsky, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 11-Sergei Semak, 20-Igor Semshov (15-Diniyar Bilyaletdinov 56), 9-Ivan Saenko (21-Dmitry Sychev 57); 10-Andrei Arshavin, 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko
Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol, 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 19-Marcos Senna; 6-Andrés Iniesta, 8-Xavi (14-Xabi Alonso 69), 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa (10-Cesc Fà bregas 35), 9-Fernando Torres (17-Daniel Güiza 69)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 1 | - | 11 |
| Shots off target : | 5 | - | 7 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 48 | - | 52 |
| Corner kicks : | 3 | - | 4 |
| Offsides : | 1 | - | 4 |
| Fouls : | 18 | - | 14 |
| Yellow cards : | 2 | - | 0 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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The best part about Spain's game was their passing which was immaculate.The way they controlled the ball even though it was a greasy surface and I was happy to see Fabregas play the majority of the match instead of being brought on to substitute one of the midfielders or strikers.
An interesting finale beckons upon us and I hope it will be an open game.
thanks for the link
I've already linked to you here
http://laketrees.blogspot.com/2008/06/thanks-to-my-reciprocal-droppers-at-ec.html
cheers