Russia keen to win: Advocaat
Jonathan Fowler
WARSAW: Powerhouses Russia intend to win their final Group A match against Greece, coach Dick Advocaat said on Friday, as striker Alan Dzagoev said the team’s unruly fans should behave in the face of a threatened UEFA points penalty.The Group A leaders know that a draw against bottom of the table Greece will be enough to earn them a berth in the Euro 2012 quarterfinals, but plan to show their mettle, Advocaat told reporters onthe eve of Saturday’s match in Warsaw.
After a 4-1 demolition of the Czech Republic intheir tournament opener last week, Russia were criticised for getting ahead of themselves, allowing co-hosts Poland to fight back against them in Tuesday’s crunch match which ended 1-1.“I think that whenever you play a game, you have to win and want to win,” 64-year-old Advocaat said.
“We are very confidentin ourselves and I’m surethe Greek coach will say the same thing.”Advocaat, who took over from compatriot Guus Hiddink in May 2010, has won plaudits for building a side with attractive, free-flowing play and blooding young talent such as CSKA Moscow’s Dzagoev.
The 21-year-old has scored three goals so far at Euro 2012, with a double against the Czechs and one in the Poland game.There is an outside chance that Russia could fail to advance if Greece win and there is a winner between the Czechs and Poland in Saturday’s other match in the southwestern city of Wroclaw.But Dzagoev said he wasn’t reckoning on a nightmare.“I’m really sure that we’ll go through. We are very focused,” he said.
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