Euro 2008 Preview: Spain - Russia

Luis Aragonés and Guus Hiddink have both placed the emphasis of their pre-match build-up to this tantalising opener on not losing, so caution could be the order of the day in Innsbruck on Tuesday afternoon.

The two sides met in the opening game of Euro 2004 with Spanish edging a very tight encounter with a solitary goal from Juan Carlos Valerón and it could take just a single effort to separate the two sides here.

For Spain the pressure is as intense as ever with all kinds of baggage being taken into a major tournament with them once again along with the high expectations of public that believes success should be theirs, but inevitably will not be.

During his tenure Aragonés has been pilloried and derided and rarely praised with chapters like his outburst against Thierry Henry, his omission of Raúl and his arguments and rants at the media all having seen him earn more and more critics.

Then there is the performance of his team who have been accused of passing far too much while lacking the penetration to be able to play a major role in the tournament this summer.

Spain had relied on a steadfast defence, but even that is being picked at after Carlos Marchena weak clearance allowed Peru to score against Iker Casillas last week in a friendly.

While the media revel in highlighting and dissecting Spain's mistakes, all this may well be creating something of a siege mentality within the camp because all the players are certainly singing from the same songsheet in front of the media.

In the game against the United States and Peru recently, the team looked like a unit, but it is not look effective or incisive and that is an old problem that Aragonés is going to have to solve.

When a free-scoring striker at club level like Fernando Torres claims that the system is hampering him, then maybe it is time to consider a change.

Defensive Challenge

Against Russia, the Spanish will come up against a team that will defend in numbers and pose the kind of problem that has caused them so many problems throughout the qualifying period.

Guus Hiddink has unashamedly seen his side through to Austria and Switzerland utilising the counter-attacking system as well as being able to rely on England to fall at every hurdle to let them through.

After missing out on the World Cup Finals two years ago, the Russians have gone back to the drawing board under their Dutch coach and introducde a number of young, hungry players to lift them back to the top.

Players such as Igor Akinfeev is the number, with Vyacheslav Malafeev and Vladimir Gabulov more than capable back-ups, while Aleksandr Anyukovand Denis Kolodin are outstanding at the back.

The former Valencia, Real Madrid and Real Betis boss switches between 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 effecitvely and that has turned his current side into a very solid unit that conceded just seven goals in the entire qualification campaign.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Yuri Zhirkov, Vladimir Bystrov, Ivan Saenko and Dmitri Torbinskiy all offer something going forward while Igor Semshov and Konstantin Zyrianov add to a midfield group that will give the coach plenty of options.

Up front Oleg Ivanov has been called in to replace Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was forced out through injury, while Andrei Arshavinis suspended for the first two games.

Previous Meetings

There is not much history between the two countries with only two previous meetings since the fall of Berlin Wall, but before that the Spanish and the Soviet Union marked a memorable chapter in la Furia Roja's past.

In 1960 Spain were withdrawn from the first ever European Championships tournament because Generalisimo Francisco Franco had now wanted his team to face the Soviet Union.

Four years later though he knew that the groundswell of support for the Spanish team in Madrid was too big to let him prevent the team from playing in the final against the Soviets.

Chus Pereda gave the home nation the lead early, but just two minutes later Galimzian Khusainov equalised and the visitors were back in the game in front of a very nervous dictator.

It was not until the 84th minute that Marcelino finally netted to give the Spanish victory and hand them their first and, incredibly, only major tournament victory to date.

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