WROCLAW, (Reuters) – Russia produced the sort of football purists dream of and gave the Czech Republic a lesson in moving the ball quickly, effectively and beautifully yesterday as they announced themselves as potential Euro 2012 challengers.
Alan Dzagoyev scored twice in the 4-1 triumph in their Group A opener but little maestro Andrei Arshavin took many of the plaudits for threading the sort of cute little passes which give nightmares to cumbersome defenders.
Odds were quickly slashed on Dick Advocaat’s men winning the tournament but with a long way to go and a potentially tough quarter-final against the Germans, Dutch or Portuguese, they will have to keep this form going for a few weeks yet.
