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All About Strategy: Spain v Russia Euro Cup Semi-Final

26 June 2008

June 2008 - You might think that, when it comes to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euro Cup Tournament, that a winning team ought to follow the old saying, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it.'

But Spain's head coach, Louis Aragon�s, thinks differently.

Why the sudden change?

Here's the thing - these are changes to a strategy that's been winning Spain matches over the past month at the sold out venues across Switzerland and Austria. Why the change up? Let's go backwards over their flush of wins: Italy last Sunday; Greece on 18 June; Sweden on 14 June; and there it is - a wopping 4-1 victory over Russia in their opening game on 10 June.

So it looks like Aragones wants to make sure Russia doesn't surprise his Spanish squad off their guard.

What about Russia?

Russia's Dutch head coach Guus Hiddink looks like he's been making good decisions, too. For one, the controversial inclusion of the young Andrei Arshavin on the team has certainly be one reason Russia has fared as well as it has. For another, Hiddink is committed. Russia's quarter-final ousting of his home country, the Netherlands, proves as much. But what is really noteworthy is the technical precision of his team.

Hiddink's strategy gives the Russian offensive push shape. It's solid and compact. It's fast and there's always a man behind the ball. Defensively, Russia stays strong because of Hiddink's focus on long-range shooting. Case in point: 22 of the 28 shots from the Holland match were from outside of the penalty box. Finally, Hiddink's squad has exhibited a highly effective attacking verve that moves the ball with purpose and puts players like Arshavin and Dmitri Torbinski into scoring position.

So will this be a game of strategy?

Judging from the stress so far on Aragon�s and Hiddink's thinking and technical planning, it's very likely that tonight's game will be as much an exciting Euro Cup semi-final contest as an intricate chess match.

Get last minute tickets to the Euro Cup Final here at The Online Ticket Shop.


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