Source: Xinhua
06-25-2008 16:14
Special Report: 2008 European ChampionshipsVIENNA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish, who beat Russia 4-1 in their first match at Euro 2008, are now underdogs in the semifinals between the two teams due to Russia's drastic changes.
"They have grown in confidence so much that they are practically favorites to win the competition now," said Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez.
The Russian team, led by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, recovered from the 4-1 defeat to Spain and beat defending champions Greece 1-0 and then Sweden 2-0 in group stage.
Their 3-1 dumping of the Netherlands in the quarterfinals is a further evidence that the young team are now a serious contender of the title.
"That opening 4-1 defeat was a big blow to them, but they were the better side in each of their next three games," Xavi told a news conference on Tuesday.
Xavi admitted that the score line against Russia had been misleading.
"In that first game against them we had a little bit of luck on the second goal to go 2-0 up and that allowed us to play on the counter-attack," he said.
"We certainly haven't become over-confident. There is no danger of that with this team nor with this coach. We got lucky in the penalties against Italy but in this game you have to make your own luck.'
Although Russia playmaker Andrei Arshavin was the outstanding star in the match against the Netherlands, Xavi said Spain would have to be on their guard against the whole Russian side.
"There has been a lot of talk about Arshavin, but I think Russia is a very powerful team in general. They've got a lot of players that aren't known that well in Europe but are very good."
"We watched them play the Netherlands and I think they beat them in large part because they were so strong and fit in extra time."
"We want to keep faith with our playing style. This game will be very different but the key will be if we can keep control of the ball," Xavi said.
Editor:Zhang Ning
