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In the second Euro-2004 match at Algarve stadium today, the national teams of Spain and Russia met. The team considered the favorite of the group, Spain, won with a minimal victory. Spain 1 - 0 Russia 60' Yellow cards: 12' Rolan Gusev, 18' R. Sharonov, 29' Alexey Smertin, 32' Jevgeny Aldonin, 43' Ruben Baraja, 65' Carlos Marchena, 83' David Albelda, 93' Vladislav Radimov Red card: 88' Roman Sharonov In the first half, the Spaniards controlled the situation. They created dangerous opportunities, but failed to capitalize on them. The closest to scoring was Morientes, but goalkeeper Ovchinnikov played successfully. Soon after, the Russians recovered, and Alenichev created two dangerous attacks that had to be defended by Iker Casillas. The most active player in the Spanish team in the first half was left-back Vicente from the "Valencia" club. The best player in the Russian team appeared to be the aforementioned Alenichev. The second half started again with Spanish attacks. The Russians rarely visited the Spanish penalty area. In the 59th minute, the Spanish national team coach made a substitution. Instead of Fernando Morientes, Juan Valeron appeared on the field. He became the hero of the victory. Less than a minute later, after a pass from Carles Puyol from the right flank, J.Valeron sent the ball into the goal. The Russians tried to invigorate their game after the substitution of Kariaka, but the defender failed to score. The biggest problem for the Russians was that they tried to "sneak" the ball into the goal. Even when given the opportunity to shoot, they still tried to outsmart the Spanish defenders. In the 88th minute, defender Roman Sharonov received his second yellow card and a red card for a foul near the penalty area. At the end of the match, the young Spaniard Fernando Torres, who came on as a substitute, failed to double the result, but his shot went wide. After the match, Russian Dmitry Alenichev mentioned that his team lost psychologically. According to the defender, "the men could not believe they could play against Spain equally, or maybe even beat them." Line-ups: Spain: Iker Casillas Carles Puyol Carlos Marchena Ivan Helguera Raul Bravo Joseba Etxebarria David Albelda Ruben Baraja < Xabi Alonso 59' Vicente Rodriguez Fernando Morientes < Juan Valeron 59' Raul < Fernando Torres 79' Head coach Jose Ignacio Saez Russia: Sergei Ovtchinnikov Aleksei Smertin Marat Izmailov < Andrei Kariaka 74' Rolan Gusev < Vladislav Radimov 46' Dimitri Bulykin Alexander Mostovoi Roman Sharonov Dmitry Alenichev Vadim Evseev Dmitry Sennikov Evgeni Aldonin < Dmitri Sychev 68' Head coach Georgi Yartsev Referee Urs Meier (Switzerland)
