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Injuries may derail Russian campaign

Will look to ward off the potent Spaniards by packing the midfield

The schedule
Russia vs. Spain, 9.20 p.m.
Greece vs. Sweden, 12.05 a.m. (Wednesday)

INNSBRUCK (Austria): Hit by injuries to key players, Russia will likely flood the midfield to hold off the potent attack of Group D favourite Spain or risk seeing its European Championship campaign derailed from the start.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink has never failed to lead his team out of the group phase at the World Cup — the Netherlands in 1998, South Korea in 2002 and Australia two years ago in Germany. At his only previous European Championship, in 1996, he led the Netherlands to the quarterfinals, where it lost to France on penalties.

The Dutchman will have to extend his streak without his two key playmakers — the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak and the suspended Andrei Arshavin.

Without their goal-getting skills, Russia will likely play to shut down Spanish creativity.

Semak as captain

“We know that Spain is famous for its improvisation and we have to be playing in a compact group, not creating too much space,” said Sergei Semak, who is expected to be Russia’s captain.

Pogrebnyak, who scored 10 goals in Zenit St. Petersburg’s run to the UEFA Cup title, was ruled out of Tuesday’s match at the Tivoli Neu stadium in Innsbruck with a left knee injury. Arshavin will also miss the next match against Greece due to suspension.

“They are two players who can make the difference if a game is hanging in the balance; they’ve proved that at European level. It’s like losing blood, a lot of blood,” Hiddink said. “I could keep complaining about it and using it as an excuse, but no, the players are the ones who have to solve the problem — show that everybody is replaceable.”

Pogrebnyak’s absence means Roman Pavlyuchanko should return to the lineup.

Hiddink said he was impressed with Pavlyuchenko’s preparation for the European Championship after he faced criticism about his form and fitness.

“He is a very good guy, a very good character, but sometimes you have to tickle them a little bit to do a little bit more and make some effort to be competitive,” he said, adding, “because you have to be very, very competitive on this international podium.”

Semak, who had fallen out of favour with Hiddink only to be called back from a two-year hiatus, will likely be captain after playing a key role in FC Rubin Kazan’s surprise run to the top of the Russian league this season.

“Of course Spain is favourite not only in our group but in the whole championship,” Semak said. “But we can play good football too and if we play at our best we can win.”

Striking combination

With Fernando Torres and David Villa — who combined for 56 goals this season — leading the attack, there is little reason Spain should emerge without a victory.

“If we all work hard, there is no reason to think we’ll lose here,” Spain coach Luis Aragones said. “Villa and Torres are very quick and possess a lot of quality and can score. It’ll be difficult for Spain to go one game without scoring.”

Torres is already a marked man.

“Of course we have special plans for Torres, but I’m not going to discuss them here,” Russia assistant coach Igor Korneev said. “He is a great player, but you mustn’t forget their other players too who are capable of winning a game at any moment. It’s not just Torres.”

Villa is one of those. The Valencia striker was the standout player in Spain’s 2-1 warm-up win over Peru and has a better scoring rate than Torres at the international level — 14 goals in 31 games compared to Torres’ 15 in 49. The two strikers are fronted by a standout midfield that has seen Cesc Fabregas relegated to the bench. — AP

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