Spain Vs Russia Prediction

It’s down to the final four teams in the EURO 2008 Semi-finals. First off, on Wednesday June 25, is Germany vs Turkey then, on Thursday June 26, is Spain vs Russia. Germany and Spain are no surprise to be where they are, but Turkey and Russia have shocked the world! The Spain vs Russia game takes place at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Oddsmakers at Sportsbetting.com have Spain as 2.00 moneyline favs over Russia who are listed as 3.25 underdogs. Get your Spain vs Russia: EURO 2008 Semi Final Betting Prediction in now at Sportsbetting.com

Russia got to the Semi-finals after a stunning 3-1 won over the heavily favored Dutch side. Roman Pavluchenko banged in the first goal only to be countered by Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s goal in the 86th minute to send the match into extra time. Dmitri Torbinski and Andrei Arshavin scored in the second half of extra time as the Dutch couldn’t wrinkle the back onion bag. Now they look ahead to their match against Spain. The combination of Pavluchenko and Arshavin have netted the Russians five goals and their Coach Guus Hiddink label of “The Wizard.” A big reason for their success has been the freedom of which players play on and off the field. "Under Hiddink, there is much more freedom in the team and I mean the kind of freedom you get off the pitch," Arshavin revealed. "In training, you must do as you're told, but outside the training ground no one controls us anymore. No one imposes their requirements on us. It was different before." A happy team is a winning team. The Russians have the youngest squad in EURO 2008, the trust Hiddink places in youth has been an added bonus to his side. Their Coach doesn’t listen to the media or take orders from higher ups, instead he focuses on what a football team should be. He trusts his players as he selects youngsters at every opportunity and bravely uses them in games. He is not afraid of responsibility. They have a coach who is football smart, who has been here before and who is capable of getting his team to the finals. The Russians are playing with great harmony and skill

Spain got a 1-0 penalty kick win over Italy after a lack luster performance Sunday. After resting his squad for the meaningless game against Greece, coach Luis Aragones lined up his strongest team, with tournament top scorer David Villa playing alongside Fernando Torres in attack, but they still couldn’t produce any goals. They’ll have to do a lot better against the goal happy Russians. If Spain have trouble scoring they’ll definitely have to neutralize Andrei Arshavin, or else there’s trouble ahead. “Arshavin is a little genius,” says former Russia and Moscow Spartak star Igor Shalimov. “He can do everything, score, create, read the game and change the tempo, make fast breaks to hurt the opposition, take set pieces and battle for the team. He is so influential.” They’ll have to get David Villa, Fernando Torres, David Silva and Sergio Garcia rolling on offense, apply pressure to their defense. Spain can’t sit back and wait for the other side to make a mistake. “The semi-final with Russia will be a totally different type of game, much more open. The Russians are like us, they are attack-conscious and we will need to circulate the ball.”

Head to Head: 4 matches played
Spain leads 3-0
1 match ended in a draw
Spain scored 6 goals
Russia scored 1 goal

from: http://www.point-spreads.com/