Russian Women advance to Euro 2009

Russia’s Women’s team advance to the UEFA Women’S EURO 2009 after getting by a hearty group from Scotland. Following a 3-2 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh the second leg returned to Nalchik and although Scotland put up a great front winning 2-1, Russia advances per the “away goal” rule.

Unfortunately for the Scots they fell victim to an unfortunate own goal of Ifeoma Dieke’s twenty minutes after the opening whistle as she was trying to clear a Olga Petrova cross. The Tartan charge was lead by none other than Pauline Hamill. The great Hibernian striker dug-in and pulled a goal back twenty minutes after the break and a further with five minutes remaining, however Russia was able to hold on and now advances to Finland next summer.

Results from Spain - Netherlands and Iceland - Republic of Ireland are yet to be completed, however Ukraine and Italy have made it through to the finals as well.

Russian internationals shine in Moscow showdown

The showdown between CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow for second-place in the Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia featured a bevy of players internationally capped for Russia.

Lead by Valery Gazzaev, CSKA Moscow put forth a brilliant effort in-route to a 3-1 victory over Dynamo Moscow.

Sergei Ignashevich with forty-five caps on his resume opened the scoring for Koni only seven minutes into the match pouncing on the rebound of his own penalty kick.

CSKA doubled it’s lead thirteen minutes after the break with a eighteen year-old phenom Alan Dzagoev being the playmaker, linking up with Miloš Krasić before Vágner Love scoring.

Finally with ten minutes remaining Yuri Zhirkov, who has been rewarded with twenty-eight caps, scored off a perfect pass by Vágner Love to make it 3-0.

For all the details on this great match, please visit “CSKA Moscow defeats Dynamo Moscow 3-1” at The Offside and add the feeder to your browser for further updates.

Alan Dzagoev continues to impress

Eighteen year-old Russia capped Alan Dzagoev stole the show today as Valeri Gazzaev’s CSKA Moscow handed Deportivo La Coruña a 3-0 lashing in UEFA Cup action at Luzhniki Stadium.

The match was never in doubt as the teen phenom continued on his goal-scoring spree with a perfectly place free-kick only nine minutes into the match. Only three minutes later he had his second of the night when Vágner Love centered to the young striker parked in point-blank range. However the Spanish club would not go down without a fight and just before the half a Cristian Idalgo called upon Igor Akinfeev but as we have come to expect, the Russian number one is up for any challenge and dealt with the threat. Six minutes after the break Vágner Love added his name to score-sheet as he pounced on Sergei Ignashevich’s header across the goal mouth. Deportivo threatened late but once again, Igor Akinfeev denied them and the match concluded 3-0 in favour of CSKA Moscow.

CSKA Moscow returns to action in a great showdown next Monday against Dynamo Moscow.

Please visit my Russia blog on The Offside for full coverage of the match and stretch run of the Rosgosstrakh Championship of Russia.

CSKA Moscow
Igor Akinfeev,Aleksei Berezutskiy, Vasili Berezutskiy,Anton Grigoryev,Sergei Ignashevich,
Deividas Šemberas,Evgeni Aldonin (Elvir Rahimić, 74),Alan Dzagoev (Ramon, 67),Zhirkov (Shennikov, 86),Miloš Krasić, Vágner Love

Deportivo La Coruña
Aranzubia,Pablo,Ze Castro,Lopo,Filipe (Adrian, 79), Cristian,De Guzman (Sergio, 64), Tomas,Guardado,Bravo (Mista, 72),Valeron,

Russia dominates at Lokomotiv

In a match just concluding at Lokomotiv Stadium, Russia easily defeated Finland 3-0. In truth, the scoreline was flattering for the Finnish squad who never seemed to play at the level of quality we’re used to seeing from them and at best they were hoping for a scoreless draw. Igor Akinfeev of CSKA Moscow continues to defy his youthful age of twenty-two years, exhibiting calm and leadership in route to keeping the Russian goal clean. With Guus Hiddink employing a 3-5-2 in which Koni teammates Sergey Ignashevich and Vasili Berezutskiy were teamed with Zenit Saint Petersburg’s Aleksandr Anyukov, the Russian back-line stood strong and didn’t allow the Finns to break through. Throughout the entire match Russia was on the offense, in a splendid and unrelenting attack. While finishing wasn’t up to par, or else the score would have been doubled, they constantly placed Finland under the attack and never allowed them a moment to consider attacking options. Finally after a series of goal mouth exchanges and close misses Petri Pasanen was the unfortunate victim of a own goal for Finland at the twenty-second minute mark and Russia took a 1-0 lead. Wave after wave of Russia attacks continued and much to their credit, the Finns held them out until Sergei Semak centered a ball across the mouth of the goal that rattled in off of defender Veli Lampi with twenty-five minutes left. At the urging of the great supporters at Lokomotiv, Russia was insatiable for more goals and after numerous opportunities squandered, Andrei Arshavin raced beyond the diving Finnish ‘keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and struck a perfect left-footed shot to the top far corner, bringing the match to a 3-0 where it stood.

The victory sends Russia to second place in a tie presently with Wales who face Germany later on today.

Russia
Igor Akinfeev,Aleksandr Aniukov,Vasili Berezutsky,Sergei Ignashevich,Igor Denisov,Sergei Semak,Igor Semshov,Yuri Zhirkov,Konstatin Zurianov,Andrei Arshavin (Alan Dzagoev 90′),Pavel Pogrebniak (Ivan Saenko 60′)

Finland
Jussi Jaaskelainen,Sami Hyypia,Veli Lampi,Petri Pasanen,Hannu Tihinen,Roman Eremenko (Teemu Tainio 65′),Markus Heikkinen,Joonas Kolkka,Mika Vayrynen (Paulus Roiha 69′),Daniel Sjolund (Jari Litmanen 85′),Mikael Forssell

Preview of Russia Finland

Hello all. As you all know Russia and Finland will be facing off at the Lokomotiv stadium in Moscow. I do have to say I was not very impressed with Russia’s front line. I think that if Arshavin and Pogrebnyak had combined better the match could have easily been 3-2 in Russia’s favor. However I hope that Russia fix the offensive problems and win.

I think that Hiddink will shake up the squad and put in some fresh players that did not play in Germany like Purdnikov, Semshov, Saenko, and Bystrov. Hiddink is likely to go with a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3 formation to bolster the attacking options.

Having watched Finland play against Germany as wll as their Euro 2008 qualifiers they are now a much stronger team. Finland is likey to be more attack minded to counter the Russian threat with their star striker Jari Litmanen up front. There is not much I can say about Finland other than they will try to go for a win.

I think that on paper Russia looks to be a stronger team but I hope Russia dont under estimate them or get complacent. Just like the Germany Russia match I think this one will be just as tight.

My prediction: RUS 1-1 FIN

I think this match will be a draw given Finland’s road form in which they had only one loss and four draws in seven away games during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.

I look forward to reading your comments.

t underestimate Finland

With qualification for the World Cup being so difficult in Europe, many nations hopes were certainly considered “remote.” Being drawn into Group Four with Football powerhouses Germany and Russia, Finland’s chances was definitely one of those squads who knew the deck was stacked against the. However make no mistake about the forty-third ranked Huuhkajat as they cannot be underestimated and capable of playing with the best in the world. In their opening match against Germany they came within seven minutes of winning before Miroslav Klose brought the match to its final 3-3 draw. Manager Stuart Baxter has put together an efficient squad and knows that to step forward in their World Cup dreams, they will need to hold off the Russian attack. They are likely to shift to a 4-5-1 against Russia and tighten the midfield considerably.

Guus Hiddink will be anxious to erase the memories of the loss to Germany in which Russia, for the most part, played brilliantly after the break but uncharacteristically was unable to finish. With the success of CSKA Moscow’s eighteen year-old striker Alan Dzagoev after the break we could see him paired early with Pavel Pogrebniak and Andrei Arshavin in a 4-3-3. Russia will be aggressively looking for a “break-out” match as they haven’t been pleased with their offensive output in the two prior matches.

I will be reporting on the match as it concludes.

Russia comes up short against Germany

In the key match-up of Group 4, Germany defeated Russia 2-1 in a closely played affair. The pace was quick from the start as both clubs were on the hunt for first blood. Russia narrowly missed scoring in the first five minutes as Pavel Pogrebnyak as unable to finish a Yuri Zhirkov’s cross from the close range. However it was Die Mannschaft that opened the scoring as Miroslav Klose set-up Bayern Munich teammate Lukas Podolski for the opening goal nine minutes into the match. Twenty-one minutes later Bastian Schweinsteiger charged through the area, sending a cross to Michael Ballack on the far side which he cleanly slotted to the back of the net. With a strong two goal lead the German defense was near perfect through the balance of the half and Russia’s attacking flourish was effectively nullified.

After the break, Guus Hiddink called upon CSKA Moscow teen phenom Alan Dzagoev and tactically moved into a 3-5-2 with extraordinary success. The impact was immediate and six minutes after the break Andrei Arshavin was set-up by fellow Zenit Saint Petersburg-man Igor Denisov. Russia had countless chances to draw the match level but ‘keeper René Adler kept all attempts at bay and certainly was the man-of-the-match.

Russia returns to action on Wednesday with a critical match against Finland.

Russia
Igor Akinfeev,Aleksandr Aniukov ,Sergei Ignashevich,Vasili Berezutsky,Renat Yanbaev (Alan Dzagoev 46′),Igor Denisov,Sergei Semak (Dmitri Sychev 84′),Konstatin Zurianov,Yuri Zhirkov,Pavel Pogrebniak,Andrei Arshavin

Germany
René Adler,Arne Friedrich,Heiko Westermann,Philip Lahm ,Per Mertesacker,Bastian Schweinsteiger,Michael Ballack,Piotr Trochowski (Torsten Frings 83′),Thomas Hitzlsperger (Simon Rolfes 90′),Lukas Podolski,Miroslav Klose (Mario Gomez 71′)

and now Germany

Possibly the biggest news on the injury front of both squads is Germany’s loss of number one ‘keeper Robert Enke who broke his hand in practice and will be replaced by Bayer Leverkusen man, Rene Adler. With Germany being disappointed against Finland, coming out with only a draw this match takes a massive importance and Guus Hiddink intends on going the attack for goals.

However the injury woes is certainly not only Germany’s as Russia will be without Roman Pavlyuchenko, Dmitri Torbinski and Denis Kolodin. Diniar Bilyaletdinov is equally questionable and if unable to play CSKA Moscow eighteen year-old phenom Alan Dzagoev will step-up. Joachim Low’s attacking trident f Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez and Lukas Podolski will be up against Russia’s back-line heartily supported by number one Igor Akinfeev.

Enjoy the match and I will report on it as it concludes.

s Euro 2009 draw complete