Russia 2-0 Sweden

Russia 2-0 Sweden: Rampant Russians storm into last eight for first time

DUTCHMAN Guus Hiddink is relishing a clash against the Netherlands after guiding Russia to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with victory over Sweden.

Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin scored in the 2-0 win at Innsbruck's Stadion Tivoli Neu, setting up the last-eight clash for the weekend. Since starting to compete as Russia, in 1992, it is the first time they have made it out of the groupstages of a major
tournament.

"I know the way we play we get respect because we play with the concepts that football should be played, like Holland," said Hiddink, who was the Dutch national coach in the mid-1990s. "I don't know if they fear us, but they have five days more rest, which is an advantage. It's a special game because I know the players, the coach and more people within the squad I worked with.

"I'm very proud of my team and the progress they have made in the last few days. They play modern football."

The inclusion of Arshavin, suspended for the first two games, seemed to give Russia an injection of self-belief and they were unrecognisable from the side who laboured to victory over Greece and were thumped by Spain. His direct running and some confident, slick passing in and around the box had Sweden hanging on from the opening exchanges. Yuri Zhirkov sounded a warning when he drove a volley wide after 21 minutes and three minutes later Russia were ahead. A clever pass allowed Konstantin Zyryanov to escape down the right and he played the ball inside to Alexander Anyukov. The dangerous midfielder then rolled it into the path of Pavlyuchenko who cracked home a first-time shot.

The striker almost had another later in the half when he fired against the bar after another neat exchange. The Swedes issued a reminder of their own threat on the break as Henrik Larsson looped a header against the bar and Mikael Nilsson forced a sharp smothering save from Igor Akinfeyev at the end of the half.

It proved a key intervention as five minutes after the break Arshavin doubled the lead with another superb goal. An attack that began deep in their own half ended with Zhirkov setting up the playmaker to score with his outstretched right boot.

"Arshavin is a player who can decide very fast where he can create danger, he's a very smart player," Hiddink added. "There was a lack of match fitness, but that is the reason why I took him in the 23-man squad – he can make a difference."

Sweden had only needed a point themselves to make it out of Group D, but defeat will not necessarily mean the end for older players. Larsson, for one, said after the match that he plans to continue playing for Sweden.

"A new generation is coming through," said head coach Lars Lagerback. "We had a number of younger players in this squad, but it's about picking the best players regardless of their age."

Russia: Akinfeev, Aniukov, Ignashevich, Kolodin, Zhirkov, Semak, Zyryanov, Semshov, Bilyaletdinov (Saenko 66), Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko (Bystrov 90). Booked: Semak, Arshavin, Kolodin.

Sweden: Isaksson, Stoor, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson (Allback 79), Elmander, Andersson (Kallstrom 55), Svensson, Ljungberg, Henrik Larsson, Ibrahimovic. Booked: Isaksson, Elmander.