Russian Resolve May Be Enough To Defeat Emotional España

The Spanish team that has turned up for this European Championship seems to have it all—they're fast, they're accurate, and they play with passion and spirit. If they have a flaw, it may be that they have a little too much passion. Emotion is a good thing when it can be focused. When it is allowed to have free reign, it can finish even the most skilled teams.

Such was the case during the World Cup. After achieving the most successful group stage results, Spain went into the round of sixteen as clear favorites.

Immediately they were sent home by France who had performed much worse during the Group Stage (two draws and a win against Togo does not equal a champion team).

If they can keep their cool during this all-important match against Russia, they will win the Championship. That could be where the pressure comes into play.

Germany, on their current form, cannot compare to Spain. Nor, if we look at the  result of Zenit St Petersburg v Bayern Munich, do they have much hope of defeating Russia (the reasons for this are detailed in my main article on Russia's chances).

Russia have to keep a steady nerve too, and it probably doesn't help too much that they have already lost a match to Spain. On recent form, however, the Russians may actually have a slight edge. Both teams achieved a draw result at their previous matches, Russia going 1-1 with Holland and Spain playing a 0-0 snoozer with Italy.

Holland, of course, have been playing in far superior form to Italy during the contest, so the result of Holland v Russia was probably of better quality than Spain v Italy. I expect that Guus Hiddink will have taken the lessons from Turkey v Germany last night, and will use a Turkish-style attacking strategy against Spain.

Hiddink is a master of substitutions, and will know the right moment to send in fresh strikers when the Spanish defense is appropriately worn down. For those who have already forgotten, it was Hiddink's brilliant substitution with John Aloisi during injury time that secured Australia's World Cup win over Japan.

It's an often overlooked fact that Russia is still a young nation. Back in the days of the USSR, they were a strong force in world football, and in fact were the winners of the first European Championship in 1960, and then runner-up on three subsequent occasions.

Now under the guidance of the great Guus Hiddink, Russia are once again showing that they have the potential to be champions.