Yes, Russia ftw. That's right, i'm officially backing Russia to win now. I can support who I like being a neutral, and Russia's football was breathtaking enough for them to be my favourite of the remaining teams.

Holland were ripped to pieces by the brilliance of russia, but most notably Arshavin.

Roman Abramovich, please let your Russian connections be of use and bring Arshavin to Chelsea.

Another exciting game, and I expect another tomorrow.

Wow, what the fuck was that?!!!

Holland didn't play well at all tonight, mostly thanks to Russia. Well done Russia I guess...

FUCK!!!

damn 3-1

hiddink done it again

Arshavin...WOW. That kid is unbelievable. Holland only looked to capitalize when they they had a goal down, but Russia has insane speed and play an incredible counterattack. Guus knows how to coach his team like a machine.

Exactly. He might not be the most charismatic of managers, but boy does he know to manage a team.

i said this not to underestimate russia part of former soviet union that was a good european powerhouse back in the days

That Holland got beaten last night had little to do with Russia I think.. The spirit in the Dutch team that was there in all the groupmatches just wasn't there in this match from the start.. I knew we were in for a bad night after only the 1st 5-10 minutes already..

Offcourse Russia played well and they deserved to win it, but Holland didn't create a single chance thru a normal attack (just freekicks), the fast movement was gone, and the passing was a complete joke.. That is was 1-1 after 90 minutes was because Russia failed to take all their chances (which will cost them in their next match v Spain or Italy if they don't improve that).. Only Dutch players that reached their normal level were Van der Sar and Van Nistelrooy I think..

To point out the reasons for the lack of spirit in the Dutch side is always speculation, but it probably had to do with the usual underestimating (we all thought we were gonna beat Russia), and the death of Bloularouze's baby aswell (that's why they had black armbands on) which had a big impact on the team's jolly spirit.. The fact that v.d. Vaart straight after the match said there were more important things in life then Football was very telling.. I was surprised Boularouz himself could play at all.. I know from own experience those things always affect you, You cannot perform at your best if you're in moarning..

But anyway, good luck to Russia now.. I hope this tournament still is going anywhere, because with all the fine playing countries going out again at the stages it most matters I hope this isn't turning into the Germany v Italy final I feared.. If Spain goes out v Italy tomorrow then all the groupwinners are out (Portugal, Croatia, Holland, and Spain), very telling.. You don't need to play the best football to win a tournament, you just need to survive and win at the right time.. And most importantly you need right spirit.. Something Holland lacked last night, and something Hiddink is obviously very good at creating in his teams..

What a pity for Holland, honestly BIG SHOCK! :( Russia deserved to win, that's for sure.

I was just thinking, imagine Italy wins Euro 2008, then what did our 3-0 victory against them mean? Absolutly nothing! But offcourse it already means absolutly nothing because we are out and Italy is still in with a chance of getting the title..

Last time I put any worth on groupmatch results, that's for sure.. Surviving a group is all that matters, not how.. It's in the knock-out phase where a tournament really starts, and that's where we (and copuntries like Portugal and Spain etc) usually fail and countries like Italy and Germany usually succeed..

I hope Russia makes it into the final, or otherwise Spain.. Will be against Germany most likely.. But what are predictions worth anymore? Not a lot obviously.. Won't be surprised if Turkey wins it with their last minute luck..

netherlands got a taste of their own medicine

That match Russia vs. Holland was incredible :)

And yes, Russia deserved the win, they played really awesome. And I had never seen that guy Arshavin play, he was the star of the night, and deserves the last goal. I hope Russia wins now.

Yeah, I hope they win the whole thing now - they're certainly capable though.

As for this game (Spain vs. Italy) .. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Italy are so negative; I really hope Spain can win this one, because no way do Italy deserve to.

Like they care.. They'll be laughing at us all when they win this Euro 2008 aswell.. Like I said, you don't have to play the best to win tournaments..

We beat them 3-0, but who cares now? It's meaningless..

I'm not saying they care, i'm saying I hope they don't go through.

At least you can't deny that this Euro is full of drama.

if it was france vs spain

spain AZZ would have been handed to them on silver plater by now

Spain vs Italy have been one of the most borring match I ever see in my life.

It is going to be interesting to see the rematch betwen Russia and Spain.

i'm glad italy is out, that team had so many issues like france except more lucky.they didn't deserve to be in QF. their legacy didn't help them this time.

have an old team as well that needs to hung their boots

Yup, very.. That's why I feared a final between Germany and Italy.. Luckily that won't happen now..Yup, very.. Russia improved a lot since their 1st game, and Hiddink wont make the same tactical mistake with their defence.. Only few things Russia needs to improve is their defence at setpieces and their goalscoring ability (they waist to many chances).. Spain certainly won't win 4-1 again, that's for sure, I give Russia a good chance now..

Let's make no mistakes about it - the reason they have significantly improved has a lot to do with Arshavin coming back from suspension. That guy is such a special player, that he doubles the quality of the team when he is in. They have such an attacking threat, most notably through Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko.

I think Russia may go all the way, especially if they play like they did against Holland.

Woah, almost all teams who won their groups are already out, only Spain survived :D

Hmm, personally Russia or Spain would make good winners of Euro 2008. Looking forward to their game.

Well, I really hope Germany don't win the whole tournament after that incredibly lucky performance.

I can't have enough praise for Turkey, whose work ethic is unbelievable.

I feel like the only thing that got Germany this far is the fact their team stayed healthier than their opponents, which is also the reason why they didn't end up facing Croatia again