Russia face must-win game with Sweden

16 June, 2008, 15:01

Russia’s Euro 2008 campaign is back on track after their 1-0 win over the reigning European Champions Greece. However, there’s still plenty of work to be done if they’re to qualify for the quarter-finals. They face Sweden on June 18, when only a win will do.

Things are looking up for the Russians. They’ll have their star man Andrey Arshavin back from a two-game suspension for the game in Innsbruck. But Russia’s coach Guus Hiddink has some concerns about Arshavin in the upcoming game:

“He hasn't played many games in the last weeks. The physical part you get not just by training, but also by playing many games. He played his last game against Serbia, and before that he hadn’t played a lot either. So he’s not in the rhythm to play full time.”

But Hiddink kept his cards close to his chest when asked whether that meant there’d be a substitution. Hiddink said “We’ll see what happens.”

The players were taking it easy in training, with the majority who played against the Greeks sitting out for long periods.

Captain Sergey Semak said getting enough rest between games was vital.

“Of course it was a recovery day. Anyway anyway who played the whole match takes it easy the next day's practice to fully recover,” Semak said.

The Swedes will provide a much tougher test for Russia. Their front pairing of Ibgragimovich and Henrik Larrsson has looked one of the most dangerous in the tournament.

However, Ibragimovich is a big doubt for the game after he limped out of Sweden’s 2-1 loss to Spain with a knee injury.

That’s of little importance to Hiddink – he knows what Russia have to do.

“We have to win, of course. But I think the Swedish mentality is not just to play on a draw. They’d like to win. They are not the people to play for a draw”.

There are plenty of plus points for Hiddink to take from the win over Greece. His side looked very good going forward, while they battled against a very dogged and experienced Greek side throughout the match. However, it’s in defence where Hiddink will have taken the most pleasure.