Andrei Arshavin shone brilliantly for his manager.
The Zenit Saint Petersburg striker scored one and set up two others to eliminate fancied Holland from the European championship today.
Russian manager Guus Hiddink will be applauding himself for sticking with the young Arshavin, who missed the first two matches for his side while serving a two-game suspension from Russia’s qualifying campaign several months ago. Hiddink, himself of Dutch origin, may have also guaranteed his place in Russian football history as well today, guiding the formerly football-decrepit nation to their first final four appearance of a major tournament since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992.
Holland, who had scored an impressive nine goals in their previous three matches in group play during the tournament, could not exert the degree of dominance they had shown in their previous fixtures against a determined Russian defense, and Russia ultimately prevailed in taking the game to their opponents and out-playing a world-class team.
Opportunities came in abundance throughout the match, however, and the game was not without its thrill moments. In the 29th minute, Rafael Van Der Vaart curled a dangerous-looking free-kick into the opposing six-yard box, and two orange shirts rose unmarked behind the Russian defense but just missed poking the ball into the back of the net. Ruud Van Nistelrooy then forced Igor Akinfeev into action two minutes later, collecting a ball from winger Khalid Boulahrouz behind the Russian defense and shooting low toward the left corner of the net.
Andrei Arshavin tested Edwin Van Der Sar for the first time in the 31st minute, tailing a low drive across the face of goal from ten yards out, forcing Van Der Sar to dive at full stretch and push the ball around the up-right. Dennis Kolodin unleashed a shot from thirty yards out a minute later, inducing another save from the veteran keeper, this time over the cross-bar and into the stands.
Rafael Van Der Vaart curled another free-kick into the Russian six-yard box again in the 41st minute, and again two orange shirts ran in un-marked behind the Russian defense but failed to connect with the service. Hiddink could be seen fuming when Van Nistelrooy nearly tapped in yet another set-piece ball in the 49th minute, and the Russians began to look decisively uncomfortable defending in the air.
Roman Pavluchenko struck first for the Russians in the 56th minute, though, connecting with a cross from Sergei Semak inside the Dutch penalty box to side-volley the ball neatly past Van Der Sar.
The Dutch then subsequently opened up the game in the final half hour as they pushed up in pursuit of the equalizer, and the Russians took quick advantage of the sitution. In the 70th minute, Aleksandr Anjukov could have made it 2-0 to Russia when he slipped in behind the Dutch defense and fired one at point blank range against the keeper, but Van Der Sar did well to bat down the effort and keep the ball in play. Seconds later, Arshavin sent in a sizzling cross across the face of goal, with both the Dutch back four and the keeper beaten, but nobody could connect to the end of it, and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst was able to clear it from the by-line with ease.
Then, in the 86th minute, Ruud Van Nistelrooy equalized for Holland. Van Der Vaart’s free-kicks finally unraveled Russia after poor marking let yet another two Dutch front-men slip in behind the defense, but this time proved lethal for Hiddink’s side.
As extra time approached, Andrei Arshavin began taking matters into his own hands.
Several minutes into the first period of extra time, the 27-year old hit the cross-bar from a forty yard effort, taking advantage of a fatigued and vulnerable Dutch defense, and then wreaked havoc down the right wing before cutting the ball back to substitute Dmitri Torbinsky inside the Dutch six-yard box. Van Der Sar managed to smother Torbinsky’s first effort in the 97th minute, but could not do anything about the one in the 112th minute, when Arshavin lobbed a ball along the by-line over the veteran keeper toward the opposite up-right, where a grateful Torbinsky stood waiting to foot in the cross from a yard out. Then, in the 116th minute, Arshavin snuck in behind the Dutch defense on a throw-in and unleashed one through Van Der Sar’s legs to seal the match for his side.
Holland become the third straight team to finish first in their respective groups and be eliminated in the quarterfinals, following Portugal’s exit on Thursday and Croatia’s on Friday. Spain, the winner of Group D, will play Group C runners-up Italy in the last of four quarterfinal matches in Vienna tomorrow in what promises to be a clash of titans. The winner of tomorrow’s match will play Hiddink and the Russians in the second semifinal on Thursday.