Russia stay grounded after flying start
Reuters - Saturday 09 June 2012, 09:45
Russia will not get carried away
after their 4-1 demolition of the Czech Republic with
perfectionist coach Dick Advocaat managing to pick holes in a
near flawless performance.
Co-hosts Poland await on Tuesday in their second Group A
match and with Germany, Netherlands or Portugal probably lined
up in the last eight, the Russians cannot rest on their laurels
despite Alan Dzagoyev scoring twice and Andrei Arshavin looking
back to his best.
"At 2-1 it could have been 2-2. There were moments when we
could have been sharper," the ultra critical Advocaat told
reporters.
"We weren't really in the game the first 13 minutes. We
weren't very sharp. From that moment on we kind of controlled
the game," he said of Dzagoyev's 15th-minute opener.
If Advocaat was really looking for problems to address,
Alexander Kerzhakov's wastefulness in front of goal was a thorn
in his own side before rival forward Roman Pavyluchenko scored a
cracking fourth when he came on as substitute.
However, Dutchman Advocaat backed his starter.
"I would choose Kerzhakov once again. You make certain
choices and you have to back those choices. The only thing he
didn't do was score," the coach added.
The Czechs must go back to the drawing board after
goalkeeper Petr Cech, whose last competitive game was as a hero
in the Champions League final for Chelsea, was left a mere
bystander by Russia's attacking flair.
Playmaker Tomas Rosicky was also outshone by Arshavin
despite having enjoyed a recent renaissance at Arsenal while his
former Russian team-mate was forced to seek solace on loan at
Zenit St Petersburg after losing his club form.
"We started well. The first 15 minutes we had ball
possession, good passes. But then we lost the ball... and they
got into a fast break. The Russians are a good team," coach
Michal Bilek said ahead of their next fixture against Greece.