Group D

Boy, what was Russia’s defense terrible today. This wasn’t the fighting Russians that inspired a win against England back in Oct 2007. But then again, the Russians are so inconsistent in their qualifying campaign, that this result couldn’t have been a surprise. Especially without their star striker Andrei Arshavin. In particular, the man-marking was bad, if that really was man-marking. Usually Guus Hiddink instills a space-marking defense, but gdamn that was terrible. The 5 midfielders he had were all too close to each other and Espana just cut through their mid-lines like fresh puro coca. If, in fact, Hiddink’s idea was to use his 5 midfielders to apply pressure to Spain’s midfielders, then that was an equally terrible job. I wasn’t sure of Russia’s gameplan, because the execution was so terrible. But looka here, this Spain team is crazy talented. I like the juxtaposition of a very young team coached by a old geezer, Aragones, eventhough I hate this guy for his racist remarks. But oh well, if someone’s black BUT he’s Brazilian, I guess he forgets he’s racist and lets him play (M.Senna). Anyways, David Villa shows what a tremendous finisher he is, and together with F.Torres make up a dynamic duo up top. You can tell how well they play together. But I think what makes the difference for Espana this year is the talent on the midfield. How would you line-up guys like Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, M.Senna, and Xabi Alonso? Without the industry of these creative midfielders, David Villa wouldn’t get his hattrick. I think Spain is a dangerous team to beat, with a lot of young legs that can tire out the seasoned vets. They shouldn’t have a problem cracking Greece’s defensive shell but against the Swedes will be interesting.