Russia entered the semi finals of the Euro 2008 after beating the Netherlands 3-1 on Saturday, June 21, 2008. The game went on to extra period after the stipulated time of 90 minutes was over and both the teams were tied at 1-1. Goals from the Russian substitute Dimitry Torbinsky and Andrei Arshavin made sure that Russia won a well deserved match.

 

Russia took the lead in the match, just 11 minutes into the second half of the game when Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a goal but were equaled when Ruud van Nistelrooy of Netherlands scored a header with just four minutes remaining.

 

During the first half Netherlands got many chances with Ruud van Nistelrooy missing three good chances of scoring goals. First, he failed to get his foot to an inswinging Rafael van der vaart kick. Later, goalkeeper of Russia Igor Akinfeyev denied two close range hits by Ruud. The Russians looked dangerous all through the game. During the second half Russia broke the shackles with a very well scored goal.

 

Later, Netherlands attempted to score many goals but were denied, most notably when Robin van Persie wasted a 72nd minute free kick. But just when the Dutch fans were beginning to lose hope, Van Nistelrooy scored a goal, a header from a Wesley Sneijder free kick. This resulted in the match to go into extra time. But even during the extra time, it was Russia who was sharper of the two teams. During the 97th minute Russia again got a chance but unfortunately could not score a goal.

 

Finally, it was in the 112th minute that Russia's hard work paid off when Torbinsky made it 2-1, in favor of Russia. He scored a perfect goal from the pass he got from Arshavin at the far post. Then, Russia's Arshavin finished off the match with a low shot inside that area that flew past Van der Sar with a slight deflection.

 

Netherlands came into the match, at St. Jakob Park as the strong favorites after winning their all three group matches.