Group D

Russia 2-0 Sweden

Sweden could not keep up with a slick passing and speedy Russian side. Russia was fully committed to attack right from the opening whistle and they peppered the Swedish goal with shots throughout the game.

The fact that Russia only led by one goal at half time was down to a combination of some good goalkeeping from Isaksson and some finishing that just lacked an edge. Arshavin was very much the orchestrator for Russia but this was far from a one man show. Zhirkov, Semak, Zyryanov, Anyukov and Bilyaletdinov all stood out while the size and strength of Pavlyuchenko bothered the Swedish defence. It was Pavlyucheko that got the opening goal as he finished off some good work by Anyukov down the right side.

The second goal was a thing of absolute beauty and came early in the second half. A Swedish clearance was picked off inside his own half by Zhirkov. He found Arshavin and continued his run forward. Arshavin knocked the ball to Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who then threaded a twenty yard pass behind the Swedish defence and right to Zhirkov who made a diagonal run.

Zhirkov carried the ball into the Swedish penalty box before squaring to Arshavin who slid the ball past Isaksson. The move from start to finish probably took no more than ten seconds, involved four players and four passes and the ball travelled more than half the length off the field without a Swedish defender getting a sniff. Spectacular and a candidate for the best goal of the tournament – set the recorder tonight if you did not catch this goal live!

As Sweden desperately tried to pull a goal back they left themselves open to Russia on the counter. There were numerous chances to increase the score but everyone was squandered. Another triumph for a side showing a willingness to go forward and to attack the opposition with pace, passing and fantastic movement Now we have Guus Hiddink going up against his native Netherlands on Saturday – something we can all look forward to.  

Spain 2-1 Greece

Greece scores a goal but still lose to what could be best described as the Spanish B team. Nice bit of refereeing on the first Spanish goal. Howard Webb opting to play the advantage after a foul by Greece in midfield. The call allowed the move to continue and it finished with a rasping shot from de la Red.

Comment of the Day

"At this stage of the tournament any opponent was going to be difficult but they aren't the team (Italy) I would have most liked to have met," Spain coach Luis Aragones.

Prediction Update

Group C proved to be a real #### for just about everyone. A lot of blanks – many more than Groups A and B. Only one 100% correct prediction for Group C and it came from Stonefacesurf. Sounderfan still leads (19 points from a possible 24) although the gap narrowed yesterday.

Questions

1. So far, is this a better tournament than Euro 2004?

2. Without checking the statistics do you think Euro 2008 has produced more, about the same or less goals than Euro 2004?