A young and explosive Russian side managed to defeat the high flying Dutch by a score of 3-1 this afternoon. Russia struck first in the second half on a goal by Roman Pavluchenko. A great ball played into the goal area was finished off by the streaking Russian forward. It looked as though the Ruskies would win 1-0 until Ruud Van Nistleroy managed to sneak in behind his defender on a free kick and head home the equaliser in the 86 min.
In extra time it remained tied until Andrei Arshavin crossed in a ball that did not look that threatening but managed to make it drop in on the back post and the substitute Torbinsky flicked it into the back of the "onion bag" for the eventual game winning goal. 4 minutes later Arshavin buried a shot (which took a deflection to be fair) to seal the win. Arshavin was undoubtedly the star of the game, constantly displaying his quickness and nose for good attacking football. He should definitely move somewhere big over the summer transfer window.
This was a tough loss for the Dutch as they coasted through the group stage. I think it is safe to say that anyone who underestimates the Russians from this point on will be making a huge mistake. The Russians will play the winner of the Spain versus Italy game which airs on ESPN tomorrow. Gus Hiddink managed to pull off another unexpected result for his team. The man continues to impress wherever he coaches.
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