In-form Russia needs tighter defense in rematch with Spain

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-25  |     ONLINE EDITION

RUSSIA coach Guus Hiddink wants his young team to avoid schoolboy errors when it gets a second chance to beat undefeated Spain in the European Championship semifinals.

Hiddink blasted his players for giving the ball away too easily after losing to Spain 4-1 in their group opener, and they seem to have learned the lesson.

Two weeks later, the Russians have kicked Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands out of the tournament while conceding only one goal.

"They have beaten very difficult opponents," Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez said. "This match will be different, but were not changing our philosophy to dominate the ball for 90 minutes and play offensively."

Spain knows they're up against a different Russia this time, not least because playmaker Andrei Arshavin is back in Hiddink's team after serving a two-match suspension in the group stage.

"There's a lot of talk about Arshavin, but I think Russia is a bloc," Xavi said. "They have players that are not that well-known in Europe that are doing well, like Yuri Zhirkov on the left midfield and (striker Roman) Pavlyuchenko."

Spain fullback Joan Capdevila got a knock in yesterday's training and left the session early but was not seriously hurt. The rest of the squad is injury-free.

Hiddink has slight worries, with midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, forward Ivan Sayenko and Alexander Anyukov all carrying minor injuries from the quarterfinals.

While they may be fit for tomorrow's semifinal match in Vienna, Hiddink will have to pick a team without central defender Denis Kolodin and attacking midfielder Dmitry Torbinski, who are both suspended after picking up their second yellow cards of the tournament against the Netherlands.