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Russian revolution no shock for Villa
Spain forward David Villa claims he is not surprised by Russia's successful
run to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 despite his team's 4-1 triumph over
them in their opening group encounter.
Russia bounced back from that setback to reach the quarter-finals, where
they beat Holland 3-1 in extra time, and now face Spain in tomorrow's
encounter at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna with a place in the final
up for grabs.
Villa, the top scorer in the tournament with four goals, feels Spain's
pool win over Russia was not as easy as the scoreline suggests.
'This is a different game altogether,' said Villa, who scored a hat-trick
against the Russians. 'This is a semi-final and we cannot be over-confident.
'Our opening game wasn't that easy despite our 4-1 triumph. We have seen
that Russia have grown game by game so we expect a very complicated encounter.'
Knocking out world champions Italy on penalties to progress to the last
four allowed Spain, who have underachieved in the big tournaments over
the years, to break a psychological barrier.
With the nation having waited 24 years to see Spain return to a European
semi-final, Luis Aragones' men appear ready to deliver.
'Russia is a team that has proved to be in top form,' said Liverpool striker
Fernando Torres, who will partner Villa up front. 'But if we beat them
once, I am certain we can beat them again.'
Aragones is set to play with his strongest line-up in the hope 'La Seleccion'
reach their third European final.
Spain, though, will have to keep a close eye on Russia playmaker Andrei
Arshavin.
The 27-year-old, who missed the first two games through suspension, terrorised
the Dutch defence - setting up the second goal for substitute Dmitri Torbinski
before netting the clinching third himself.
'There is little we can say about him,' said Spain captain Iker Casillas.
'We have all seen what he did against Holland.
'The most important thing is that we do things well, that we focus on
our game and not on our opponents.'
Casillas, the star of Spain's quarter-final win over Italy after saving
penalties from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale in the shootout,
is convinced Spain can go all the way.
'We are very proud of what we have achieved so far,' said the Real Madrid
stopper. 'We hope that we will have luck in the key moments because you
need some fortune to get to a final.
'Now we have a big task ahead of us, but we have the whole nation behind
us and we feel their support.'
Soccernet.espn.go.com,
June 25, 2008
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