Posts Tagged ‘Russia’

Russia 1-2 Italy: Third Place Consolation Prize for the Azzurri (FIFA Futsal World Cup 2008)

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

After their disappointing and controversial loss in the semi-finals, Italy grabbed the bronze medal in the FIFA Futsal World Cup Third Place final against Russia Saturday. It was hard-fought match full of spectacular plays, in which the Azzurri obtained their 2-1 win thanks to a last-minute goal by Saad Assis.

Nevertheless, one can’t help but think that under different circumstances, this team could have made a serious contention for the title tomorrow. In the end, Italy will not be remembered for their good third place ranking, but rather for being denied a chance to play for the gold.

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FIFA Futsal World Cup 2008 – Five-A-Side Football Kicks Off in Brazil

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Futsal, FIFA’s officially sanctioned version of Five-a-side football, may not be as widespread (or receive as much TV coverage) as the 11 vs. 11 “real thing”, but its popularity is very much on the rise. A popularity which can only grow further, with the 6th edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup kicking off last Tuesday.

As title favorites Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Italy, and Portugal step onto the synthetic turf of Nilson Nelson Gymnasium and Ginásio do Maracanãzinho (the tournament’s two venues in the cities of Brasília and Rio de Janeiro), all eyes will be directed towards the soccer state for the biggest indoor footy showdown of the year.
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Euro 2008 SEMI-FINALS – Russia 0-3 Spain, Could This Finally Be La Selección‘s Year?

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Russia 0-3 Spain. Well Italy didn’t go out for nothing at least. Yet.

The ever-famous (or infamous, I guess it depends where you stand) tournament-chokers really made a statement on Thursday night. Getting three goals past your opponent in a Euro Semi-Finals cannot be ignored, even if that opponent was modest Russia (who in spite of being modest, was one of the most attractive and surprising teams of this tournament). In particular, what was even more remarkable is that Spain scored three goals without conceding any, a feat which against the likes of Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko was far from being a bookie’s favorite.

So ¡enhorabuena! to La Furia Roja, this Euro 2008 final vs. Germany promises to be a tough and exciting battle. The only snag for Spain is that they may have to do it without David Villa (picking up a muscle strain today).

Spain's Daniel Guiza, right, reacts with teammates Marcos Senna, left, Sergio Ramos, second left, and Carles Puyol after scoring the second goal during the semifinal match between Russia and Spain in Vienna, Austria, Thursday, June 26, 2008, at the Euro 2008 European Soccer Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Spain defeated Russia 3-0. (AP Photo by Sergey Ponomarev)

Euro 2008 - Russia 0-3 Spain

(From Gazzetta): VIENNA, 26 JUNE 2008 – A superb Spanish display sunk Russia on a very wet Thursday night, thanks to goals from Xavi, Güiza and Silva. Chants of “Viva España” rang around Vienna’s Ernst Happel stadium as Spanish fans witnessed their national side (who had gotten rid of Italy in the quarter-finals) first tame the Russians, and then finish them off in the second half with an incredible technical display. Hats off to “La Furia Roja” and their perfect team, epitomised by their slick movements and the individual genius of their stars. Cesc Fabregas was the key to the game as the young Arsenal genius came on in place of Villa in minute 35 and put all his class at the disposal of the team, namely in the shape of some sublime passing and two beautiful assists.

GAME OF CHESS – The wisdom of Luis Aragonés pitted against the enterprise of Guus Hiddink, or rather, Spain’s methodical school against Russia’s “mutant” one. Luis Aragones kept faith as always in his solid and fast 4-4-2 formation, which has earned the nickname of “windscreen wiper” in the Iberian peninsula (as it does away with anything in its path). Hiddink meanwhile may well be a mercenary, but when he puts his hands to the job he can certainly work miracles, and the Dutch tactician made only one unexpected change with regards to pre match predictions, preferring Ivan Saenko to Bilyaletdinov, who took his place up front beside Andrei Arshavin -Russia’s new prodigal son with a whole nation at his feet.

SKIRMISHES – Nerves got the better of Hiddink’s youngsters however, as the more experienced Spain attacked and pressed. On 6 minutes Fernando Torres turned well in the area and fired a shot at Igor Akinfeev, who let the ball slip out of his arms. Then again on 11 minutes David Villa fired a thunderbolt from outside the area, stinging the hands of Russia’s number one. The Russian alarm bells ringing. Hiddink was forced to raise his voice to reorganise his side and get them back into the game, and it seemed as Russia got the message when Roman Pavlyuchenko hit a well-struck free-kick from the edge of the area just over the bar (minute 16).

BALANCE – This was certainly not the same Russian side that annihilated Holland in the previous round, but Hiddink’s men did well to close their ranks and leave the opposition with limited space to exploit. Yuri Zhirkov’s tactical acumen provided Russia’s biggest threat as the fullback was given licence to push down the wing and instigate Russia’s attacks. Spain became less adventurous as the half progressed and also had a couple of close shaves. On 31 minutes, Pavlyuchenko had the Russian fans celebrating prematurely as Casillas just got a fingertip to the striker’s scorcher, only to send the ball agonisingly wide. On 34 minutes Villa picked up an injury and forced Aragonés to bring on Cesc Fabregas in replacement, and the Arsenal youngster immediately added quality to Spain’s play by positioning himself behind Torres.

Meanwhile, the rain was not showing any signs of relenting and made the players more heavy-legged, but this didn’t seem to affect the frequency of goalscoring opportunities. Indeed, on 35 minutes Pavlyuchenko controlled the ball with his chest just a couple of yards away from Casillas, but just as the Russian striker was preparing to shoot Carles Puyol managed to get a tackle in. Then it was Torres’s turn, as “El Niño” had Spanish fans on their feet through a clever dummy and shot in the area, only for Akinfeev to save the Liverpool striker’s effort.

DOWN WITH THE MASKS – After all the calculating and caution of the first half, the second half closed the door to such tactics: indeed, it only took 5 minutes past kick-off for Spain to open the score. Andrés Iniesta broke down the left and played in the perfect ball for Xavi, who drove an unsaveable shot past Akinfeev. 1-0 Spain.

Russia tried to reply by unleashing that high tempo of theirs, but in the process opened up space for the opposition to exploit and Torres came close to doubling his team’s lead, after some sublime passing between Silva and Fabregas. Conceding Xavi’s goal really had stunned the Russians. In the end in all came down to a question of experience, which Hiddink’s men were made to pay for their lack of. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Dmitriy Sychev came on for Semshov and Saenko, but not even fresh legs were enough for Russia as Spain now controlled the game and created chance after chance, taking full advantage of a weak and scared-looking Russia.

Spain also made a double substitution, with Dani Güiza and Xabi Alonso coming on for Torres and Xavi, thus giving fresh legs and power to the team. An explosive and lively Spain then proceeded to totally outclass the opposition, as Marcos Senna coordinated the midfield and the wingers revelled in the space afforded to them. Then came Guiza’s goal and Spain’s second, as Cesc Fabregas beautifully touched the ball on for the striker, who sent the Russians packing with a lob over the keeper. 2-0 Spain.

But Fabregas was not done yet. As if to say to Aragonés “You left me on the bench? Now I’ll show you!”, the Spanish youngster exploited a good Spanish counter-attack and played another perfect cross for David Silva, who completed the rout with a third. 3-0 Spain, and what a Spain, were thus in the Euro 2008 final.

Members of Spain's soccer team celebrate after their Euro 2008 semi-final soccer match victory over Russia at Ernst Happel stadium in Vienna, June 26, 2008. (REUTERS)

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 Russian Football Union (Russian: Российский Футбольный Союз) RUSSIA-SPAIN
0-3
[Match Highlights]
Real Federación Española de Fútbol
GOALSCORERS: 50’ Xavi (S), 73’ Güiza (S), 82’ Silva (S).
RUSSIA (4-3-2-1): Akinfeev – Anyukov, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy, Zhirkov – Zyryanov, Semak, Semshov (56’ Bilyaletdinov) – Saenko (57’ Sychev), Arshavin – Pavlyuchenko. (bench: Gabulov, Malafeev, Yanabaev, Berezutski, Adamov, Ivanov, Shirokov, Bystrov). Coach: Hiddink.
SPAIN (4-4-2): Casillas – Ramos, Marchena, Puyol, Capdevila – Iniesta, Senna, Xavi (69’ Xabi Alonso), Silva – Villa (34’ Fàbregas), F.Torres (69’Güiza). (bench: Palop, Reina, Albiol, F.Navarro, Cazorla, Sergio Garçia, Arbeloa, Juanito, De la Red). Coach: Aragones.

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Russia 0-3 Spain – MyVideo

Euro 2008 Matches & Results

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Euro 2008 Matches & Results

Euro 2008 kicks off on Saturday 7 June 2008. mCalcio will of course be covering the entire Azzurri progress through the tournament, as well as any major game I fancy writing about (with the quality of teams present, expect plenty of excitement). 

Here’s the full list of Euro 2008 matches: feel free to bookmark this page and share it online. Once the tournament starts, this page will updated daily to post results as well.

All times are CET.

Saturday 7 June 2008
Group
Teams & Kick-Off Time
1
Grp A
Switzerland
0-1
Czech Rep.
2
Grp A
Portugal
2-0
Turkey
.
Sunday 8 June 2008
3
Grp B
Austria
0-1
Croatia
4
Grp B
Germany
2-0
Poland
.
Monday 9 June 2008
5
Grp C
Romania
0-0
France
6
Grp C
Netherlands
3-0
Italy
.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
7
Grp D
Spain
4-1
Russia
8
Grp D
Greece
0-2
Sweden
.
Wednesday 11 June 2008
9
Grp A
Czech Rep.
1-3
Portugal
10
Grp A
Switzerland
1-2
Turkey
.
Thursday 12 June 2008
11
Grp B
Croatia
2-1
Germany
12
Grp B
Austria
1-1
Poland
.
Friday 13 June 2008
13
Grp C
Italy
1-1
Romania
14
Grp C
Netherlands
4-1
France
.
Saturday 14 June 2008
15
Grp D
Sweden
1-2
Spain
16
Grp D
Greece
0-1
Russia
.
Sunday 15 June 2008
17
Grp A
Switzerland
2-0
Portugal
18
Grp A
Turkey
3-2
Czech Rep.
.
Monday 16 June 2008
19
Grp B
Poland
0-1
Croatia
20
Grp B
Austria
0-1
Germany
.
Tuesday 17 June 2008
21
Grp C
Netherlands
2-0
Romania
22
Grp C
France
0-2
Italy
.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
23
Grp D
Greece
1-2
Spain
24
Grp D
Russia
2-0
Sweden
.
.
Thursday 19 June 2008
25
QF
Portugal
2-3
Germany
.
Friday 20 June 2008
26
QF
Croatia
1-1
1-3(p)
Turkey
.
Saturday 21 June 2008
27
QF
Netherlands
1-3
(aet)
Russia
.
Sunday 22 June 2008
28
QF
Spain
0-0
4-2(p)
Italy
.
Wednesday 25 June 2008
29
SF
Germany
3-2
Turkey
.
Thursday 26 June 2008
30
SF
Russia
0-3
Spain
.
Sunday 29 June 2008
31
F
Germany
0-1
Spain

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Group Standings

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Group A
.
Teams
Pld
+/-
Pts
Euro 2008
Portugal
3
+2
6
Turkey
3
0
6
Czech Republic
3
-2
3
Switzerland
3
0
3
.
.
Group B
.
Teams
Pld
+/-
Pts
Euro 2008
Croatia
3
+3
9
Germany
3
+2
6
Austria
3
-2
1
Poland
3
-3
1
.
.
Group C
.
Teams
Pld
+/-
Pts
Euro 2008
Netherlands
3
+8
9
Italy
3
-1
4
Romania
3
-2
2
France
3
-5
1
.
.
Group D
.
Teams
Pld
+/-
Pts
Euro 2008
Spain
3
+5
9
Russia
3
0
6
Sweden
3
-1
3
Greece
3
-4
0

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. Key:
Pld
Matches played
+/-
Goal difference
Pts
Points

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