“I don’t want revenge, I just want to win,” Russia captain Sergei Semak told euro2008.com ahead of Thursday’s rematch with Spain.

Reversal of fortune
Russia lost their opening UEFA EURO 2008™ Group D game 4-1 to Spain but victories against Greece, Sweden and, in quarter-final extra time, the Netherlands have taken Guus Hiddink’s side to the last four, where they will face their first opponents again in Vienna. However, if thoughts of avenging their Innsbruck reverse preyed on the Russia players’ minds when they watched Sunday’s quarter-final, Semak stated: “It’s not that important whether it was Spain or Italy, the most important thing is that it’s a semi-final.”

Mistakes
The 32-year-old midfielder also reminded his team-mates why the first match against Spain was lost. “The number one reason was individual mistakes, and of course when they were 2-0 up it was much easier for them to play,” Semak said, adding that despite the scorching heat in their Basel base, the team have recovered well from the Netherlands game on Saturday. “Our conditioning is good, our morale is good. There is still time to prepare, so everything will be OK.The heat doesn’t really bother us – in the end, both teams face similar conditions.”

Injury concerns
In a light session at Basel’s Rankhof Stadium, midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, forward Ivan Saenko and defender Aleksandr Anyukov all trained apart. “All of them have slight problems and I can’t tell you whether they will play against Spain,” said coach Guus Hiddink, although no more details were revealed. Bilyaletdinov is already thinking about Spain after watching their encounter with the Azzurri, won on penalties after a 0-0 draw. “It was a boring game, though I only saw the second half,” he said. “The Spanish were trying to be careful, but against us they played much more attacking football. I was interested to see what happened. It was a dramatic match, with not many chances, but tactically a good contest.”

Realism
He also reiterated that the errors committed a fortnight ago against Spain will not be repeated. “So far we are concentrating on ourselves and we have not talked about Spain,” the 23-year-old revealed. “But I do not think we will repeat the mistakes we made in the first game. The coaching staff will get us right for this match.” For all the great strides Hiddink’s men have made here, they still seem to be taking it one step at a time along the road to EURO glory. “I don’t know if we can win the tournament,” Bilyaletdinov added, “because to do that we need to win two more games, two very difficult games.”

Forward Dmitri Sychev said “no additional wake-up calls are needed” for Russia as they prepare for Wednesday’s decider against Sweden.

Tennis stars
With two days to go before the Group D day of reckoning in Innsbruck, Guus Hiddink’s session at the training camp in Leogang was dedicated to recovery exercises, with a football tennis tournament keeping players busy after some light stretching and running. Konstantin Zyryanov, Vladimir Bystrov, Sychev and captain Sergei Semak proved to be the stars of the one-hour tournament, before the players were granted the afternoon off.

Harsh words
The Russia squad were in reticent mood as they begin focusing on the big game, but Sychev was willing to say a few words, underlining that there would be no need for Hiddink to repeat the uncompromising pre-match team talk he delivered before the 1-0 win against Greece. “Everyone knows what needs to happen and how to get a win. No additional wake-up calls are needed. We need them after we lose, when the mood hits rock bottom, but after a victory it’s different,” he said.

Arshavin hopeful
It should help morale that Andrei Arshavin is available again and the FC Zenit St. Petersburg striker told the Russian press that he was hopeful of being included in the starting lineup against Sweden, despite having missed the first two games of the tournament through suspension. Arshavin said: “Have I considered that Hiddink might not select me? Choosing a lineup is the exclusive right of the coach. Everything is possible, but to be honest I am preparing for the match and I hope to play from the start.”

Adamov move
Another of Russia’s forwards, Roman Adamov, has been making plans for after UEFA EURO 2008™, meanwhile, with news filtering through that the FC Moskva player – the 14-goal joint-top scorer in the Russian Premier-Liga in 2007 along with FC Spartak Moskva’s Roman Pavlyuchenko – has signed a four-year contract with surprise league leaders FC Rubin Kazan. Adamov’s only involvement in the tournament so far was a 24-minute appearance as a substitute in the 4-1 loss against Spain.

Russia midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov knows much is expected of Guus Hiddink’s men at UEFA EURO 2008™ – and the FC Zenit St. Petersburg player is determined to help them deliver.

‘Tough’ opposition
Having suffered a 4-1 defeat by Spain in their Group D opener, Russia must bounce back against notorious stiflers Greece in Salzburg on Saturday. But, as Zyryanov concedes, they may find it a difficult task. “The next match will be very tough, because neither team has a point yet,” said the 30-year-old. “The recipe for success will be to take our chances and also to be very vigilant in defence. As for Greece’s cautious style of play, we will watch their matches and study them. But they are a very difficult opponent.”

Back-fired
Zyryanov admits that the Russian public are beginning to lose faith in their team’s chances of progress from the section. After the Spain reverse, Hiddink’s defenders in particular were targeted for criticism in the press back home. But the former FC Torpedo Moskva stalwart pinpointed his side’s ambitious, offensive approach against Luis Aragonés’s selection as the cause of their opening-day downfall. “Our attempt to attack Spain proved costly,” Zyryanov said. “I think they studied our matches, prepared carefully, and were happy to let us come on to them.

No changes
“Our team is young and the players like to go forward, but we made serious defensive errors. Perhaps we should have taken a different approach. I don’t think the defenders, [Roman] Shirokov and [Denis] Kolodin, are to blame. The whole team must take the blame because everyone has defensive duties. There is no reason to single out two players when our central midfielders, wing-backs and strikers are just as guilty. We have other quality defenders in [Sergei] Ignashevich and the Berezutski brohers [Aleksei and Vasili] but I don’t think the coach will change anything.”

Still a believer
Whatever the media recriminations, Zyryanov insists everyone inside the Russia camp is focused solely on winning the next two games, against Greece and then Sweden next Wednesday. He concluded: “We must qualify. In Russia, people are losing belief in us but we will try to change those opinions. People expected a lot from this team coming into the tournament and we will do our best to deliver.”

Prior to UEFA EURO 2008™, Guus Hiddink opted to give youth a chance by filling the Russian ranks with young hopefuls keen on making an impression on the international stage.

Leaders needed
The fresh faces prospered in a qualifying group that contained Croatia, England and Israel and the successful Dutch tactician decided to remain faithful to the majority of players who earned their country the right to compete in Austria and Switzerland. The problem with youth, as Hiddink knows, is the lack of experience that comes with it. Russia were badly exposed in their opening game against Spain where they made elementary errors that could have been avoided. Even more worrying is the apparent lack of an on-field leader who is prepared to bellow orders and keep team-mates on their toes. The question now is, can the Russian players be coached out of their collective timidity in time for the Group D showdown with Greece?