Euro 2008 Quarter-Finals Day Three

[Newshound]

21 June 2008<br>
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NETHERLANDS 1 (Van Nistelrooy 86)<br>
RUSSIA 3 (Pavlyuchenko 56, Torbinski 112, Arshavin 116)<br>
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Van der Sar had to be alert to keep out a Zhirkov free kick taken way out wide on the right. The Russians forced a second corner, Arshavin crossed from the right but an unmarked Pavlyuchenko headed over. Van der Vaart took a free kick from an almost identical position at the other but Van Nistelrooy failed to punish shocking marking at the back post. Arshavin tackled Engelaar in his own half to instigate a counter attack. Three passes later he was in the opposition penalty area, Ooijer backed off, Arshavin shot low but Van der Sar saved. The resulting corner was cleared only as far as Kolodin who from fully 35 yards let rip with an absolute rocket, drawing a spectacular save from Van der Sar. Van Nistelrooy turned on a Boulahrouz pass and spun away from Kolodin before hitting a weak right foot shot at goal, Akinfeev saved and Kuyt couldn't reach the rebound. Kolodin made a square pass across his own box but Van der Vaart failed to take advantage, shooting straight at Akinfeev.<br>
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Arshavin got a lucky bounce off Ooijer as he tried to knock on a cross, he took a few steps infield, dragging Ooijer out of position and slipped a passed out wide to Semak who swung a low cross into the box and Pavlyuchenko got ahead of Mathijsen to volley past Van der Sar. Arshavin tackled Van der Vaart as he tried to carry the ball out of his own half then out muscled Heitinga before releasing Zyrianov, he ran into the box passed to Bilyaletdinov, he flicked on to Torbinski and with Van der Sar hopelessly out of position the midfielder scuffed his shot from two yards out. Two minutes later the Russian's bush league finishing and poor set piece defending came back to haunt them. Pavlyuchenko was wrongly punished for 'handling' the ball. Sneijder swung in a free kick from the left and Van Nistelrooy headed in at the back post. Referee Lubos Michel looked to have majorly screwed over the Russians a second time when he sent off Kolodin for fouling Sneijder in the 91st minute but withdrew his second yellow card after consulting with one of his linesman. Replays showed Kolodin didn't make contact.<br>
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Penalties? The Russians weren't interested and dominated extra time. Arshavin was giving Ooijer fits. He received possession 35 yards from goal and ran straight at the Blackburn defender, forcing him to back, he worked an opening but blazed over from the edge of the box. Torbinski sent Pavlyuchenko away on the break and he cut inside Ooijer before curling a shot against the crossbar. Two minutes later Arshavin made Van Bronckhorst look like a fool with a great dummy then a change of pace took his past Mathijsen but Torbinski again missed an absolute sitter, weakly shooting at Van der Sar. Pavlyuchenko blazed over with the net gaping before the Russians finally took a chance. Arshavin was of course the architect and Ooijer once again his victim. From an improbable angle on the left by-line he swung over a left foot cross, the ball bounced off the underside of the bar and from an inch out even the shit Torbinski couldn't miss. If the Russian's still had firing squads he'd be next in line had they lost this match. Arshavin made sure the scoreline reflected his team's superiority with a late third. Turning onto a throw-in, with Ooijer still in his pocket, he fired a shot through Van der Sar's legs, via a tiny deflection off Heitinga.<br>
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Torbinski and Kolodin's suspensions are irrelevant. They both suck. The Russians have a good chance of beating Spain but won't have a prayer against Italy. Arshavin? Player of the tournament, based on his last two games.<br>
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Attendance : 42,500<br>
Assists : Semak, Sneijder (fk), Arshavin, Anyukov (throw in)<br>

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