russia vs spain...
Russia vs Spain: 0-3
(Xavi 50', Güiza 73', Silva 82')
Russia: Akinfeev - Anyukov, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy,
Zhirkov - Semak - Zyryanov, Semshov (
Bilyaletdinov 56'), Saenko (Sychev 57') - Pavlyuchenko, Arshavin
Spain: Casillas - Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila - Senna - Iniesta, Xavi (Alonso 68'), Silva - Villa (Fàbregas 35'), Torres (Güiza 69')
Before the game, German television showed a MasterCard ad with two balls, one red and one yellow. The red one puts a tack in the yellow ball's way, the yellow ball jumps right onto it and deflates. A bad omen? After all, the Spanish as the "away team" had to play in their unloved (especially by Aragonés) yellow jerseys this time while the Russians wore red jerseys. But I was optimistic. I had seen a car on Monday decorated with not one, not two, not three but FOUR Spanish flags, and considering that there are only very few Spanish people in Germany (and next to zero in Augsburg), this is definitely a miracle. :D
The way the Spanish team started into the game helped a lot to calm me down, too. They dominated Russia from the beginning, combining technique with physical play in a way that totally baffled me, and attacked early. This prevented Russia from developing their typical short passing game, and they were forced to play long passes, which failed most of the time because a) the Spanish defense was like a brick wall and damn great in the air, and b) Andriy Arshavin was completely out of the game. Also Zhirkov, who was so good in all the other games so far, was put to shame by an incredible Sergio Ramos. I don't think Sergio was Aragonés' whole strategy, but definitely a very important part of it. By allowing him to advance like he does at Real, he totally caught Russia off guard because I bet they didn't expect such an agile, offensive Sergio, who prepared lots of good chances.
The score was 0-0 at half-time, but Spain definitely had more of the game. They made lots of good chances whereas Russia only had about two of them, both by Pavlyuchenko. I was a bit worried because David Villa was taken off the pitch in the 35th minute and replaced by Fàbregas - not that I have any doubts about Cesc, but Torres seemed eager but very unlucky in this game, and Spain needed at least one goal. The commentator didn't say what was wrong with Villa, so can anyone enlighten me here?
In the 50th minute, Spain was finally rewarded for their efforts. Iniesta dribbled through the Russian defense, Xavi marched right through the middle, and when Iniesta's cross came towards him, Xavi was in a perfect position to put his foot up and deflect the fast ball into the goal with his toes. What impresses me the most about Spain is that each of their goals is the result of an absolutely beautiful move within or around the opponent's box, and I wonder how they can do that every single time, even when the whole box is full of defending players.
Güiza came for Torres in the 69th minute, and only four minutes later, he scored the 2-0. Now that's what I call an effective sub. :D Güiza ran along the right side and passed the ball into the middle, where Ramos took it and forwarded it directly to Fàbregas. By then, Güiza had already run to the middle, Cesc sent the ball right into his pass, and Güiza lifted it right over Akinfeev, against his running direction. David Silva scored the third goal for Spain nine minutes later, and I was particularly happy because he played so well in this Euro that he deserved a goal. Iniesta sent a long pass to Fàbregas, who made a run on the left side and timely crossed the ball into the middle, where Silva was standing completely free.
And after the game, there was this absolutely adorable interview with the Man of the Match, Andrés Iniesta, who beamed so brightly that I wanted to glomp him. ♥ Why do the Spanish players have to be so fucking adorable? *sigh*
Needless to say, I was totally ecstatic. Finally, after 24 years, Spain are in a final again, and OMG, they totally deserved it. Considering the way they played their group stage games and their two amazing knock-out games, they're definitely the odds-on favourite in the final against Germany. This was an advantage for the Germans against Portugal, but one can't expect the Spanish to suddenly forget how to play football on Sunday, just like the Portuguese did in the quarterfinals. I personally don't mind who wins the final as long as it's a good game, but the part of me obsessed with justice wants Spain to win, simply because they deservedly won all their games and didn't advance out of sheer luck like Germany did against Turkey. Am very very excited about the final, in any case! *bounces*
(Xavi 50', Güiza 73', Silva 82')
Russia: Akinfeev - Anyukov, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy,
Zhirkov - Semak - Zyryanov, Semshov (
Bilyaletdinov 56'), Saenko (Sychev 57') - Pavlyuchenko, Arshavin
Spain: Casillas - Ramos, Puyol, Marchena, Capdevila - Senna - Iniesta, Xavi (Alonso 68'), Silva - Villa (Fàbregas 35'), Torres (Güiza 69')
Before the game, German television showed a MasterCard ad with two balls, one red and one yellow. The red one puts a tack in the yellow ball's way, the yellow ball jumps right onto it and deflates. A bad omen? After all, the Spanish as the "away team" had to play in their unloved (especially by Aragonés) yellow jerseys this time while the Russians wore red jerseys. But I was optimistic. I had seen a car on Monday decorated with not one, not two, not three but FOUR Spanish flags, and considering that there are only very few Spanish people in Germany (and next to zero in Augsburg), this is definitely a miracle. :D
The way the Spanish team started into the game helped a lot to calm me down, too. They dominated Russia from the beginning, combining technique with physical play in a way that totally baffled me, and attacked early. This prevented Russia from developing their typical short passing game, and they were forced to play long passes, which failed most of the time because a) the Spanish defense was like a brick wall and damn great in the air, and b) Andriy Arshavin was completely out of the game. Also Zhirkov, who was so good in all the other games so far, was put to shame by an incredible Sergio Ramos. I don't think Sergio was Aragonés' whole strategy, but definitely a very important part of it. By allowing him to advance like he does at Real, he totally caught Russia off guard because I bet they didn't expect such an agile, offensive Sergio, who prepared lots of good chances.
The score was 0-0 at half-time, but Spain definitely had more of the game. They made lots of good chances whereas Russia only had about two of them, both by Pavlyuchenko. I was a bit worried because David Villa was taken off the pitch in the 35th minute and replaced by Fàbregas - not that I have any doubts about Cesc, but Torres seemed eager but very unlucky in this game, and Spain needed at least one goal. The commentator didn't say what was wrong with Villa, so can anyone enlighten me here?
In the 50th minute, Spain was finally rewarded for their efforts. Iniesta dribbled through the Russian defense, Xavi marched right through the middle, and when Iniesta's cross came towards him, Xavi was in a perfect position to put his foot up and deflect the fast ball into the goal with his toes. What impresses me the most about Spain is that each of their goals is the result of an absolutely beautiful move within or around the opponent's box, and I wonder how they can do that every single time, even when the whole box is full of defending players.
Güiza came for Torres in the 69th minute, and only four minutes later, he scored the 2-0. Now that's what I call an effective sub. :D Güiza ran along the right side and passed the ball into the middle, where Ramos took it and forwarded it directly to Fàbregas. By then, Güiza had already run to the middle, Cesc sent the ball right into his pass, and Güiza lifted it right over Akinfeev, against his running direction. David Silva scored the third goal for Spain nine minutes later, and I was particularly happy because he played so well in this Euro that he deserved a goal. Iniesta sent a long pass to Fàbregas, who made a run on the left side and timely crossed the ball into the middle, where Silva was standing completely free.
And after the game, there was this absolutely adorable interview with the Man of the Match, Andrés Iniesta, who beamed so brightly that I wanted to glomp him. ♥ Why do the Spanish players have to be so fucking adorable? *sigh*
Needless to say, I was totally ecstatic. Finally, after 24 years, Spain are in a final again, and OMG, they totally deserved it. Considering the way they played their group stage games and their two amazing knock-out games, they're definitely the odds-on favourite in the final against Germany. This was an advantage for the Germans against Portugal, but one can't expect the Spanish to suddenly forget how to play football on Sunday, just like the Portuguese did in the quarterfinals. I personally don't mind who wins the final as long as it's a good game, but the part of me obsessed with justice wants Spain to win, simply because they deservedly won all their games and didn't advance out of sheer luck like Germany did against Turkey. Am very very excited about the final, in any case! *bounces*