European Football Cup 2008’s Weblog

What a difference a win makes. Roman Pavlyuchenko performed a brief two-step shuffle, goal hero Konstantin Zyryanov joked with the pack and Ivan Saenko pumped the cool Leogang air with his fist as Russia prepared for their forthcoming Group D game with Sweden in confident mood following their 1-0 triumph over Greece.

Battle stations
Indeed, 1. FC Nürnberg forward Saenko, who came on in place of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov for the last 20 minutes of Russia’s triumph over Greece, said: “If you win, you sleep better.” Saenko made his UEFA EURO 2008™ bow in the victory over the 2004 champions having impressed coach Guus Hiddink with some energetic performances in training, and the attacker revealed that he felt no nerves when entering the Stadion Wals-Siezenheim on Saturday night: “Going into the game from the bench is hard but that wasn’t the first time I’ve played in front of a big crowd so I felt confident. It became easier after my first few touches. It’s always nice to go into a game when there’s a real battle going on.”

Determined approach
Whether or not Saenko gets to start Russia’s Group D decider against Sweden on Wednesday – especially with Andrei Arshavin available again after suspension – remains to be seen. Yet, regardless of whether the 24-year-old plays in the must-win match, he still has his opinion on his team’s forthcoming opponents. “The Swedes will be strong and they don’t only battle but also know how to play,” he said. “I think if we show the kind of determination we did against Greece, this could be a very interesting match.”

Different prospect
Zlatan Ibrahimović was taken off at half-time in Sweden’s 2-1 loss to Spain, and while he is likely to be available again for Wednesday, Saenko knows Sweden will be a different proposition if their star striker is forced to bow to his knee injury. “Sweden with and without Zlatan are two different teams because he is a world-class player. However, we should think more about ourselves,” he said.