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.

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.

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.”