Euro 2008 Day 12 - Russia claims final slot

Russia claimed the final Euro 2008 quarterfinal berth as they thoroughly defeated Sweden setting up a match with Holland.  Meanwhile Spains backups beat Greece 2-1.

Russia 2  Sweden 0
Andrei Arshavin returned from suspension to earn Russia a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with victory over Sweden in Innsbruck.   Sweden only needed a point themselves but had no answer to the Zenit St Petersburg playmaker, with Dutchman Guus Hiddink now set to face Holland on Saturday after guiding Russia out of Group D.  Roman Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring at Stadion Tivoli Neu before Arshavin sealed the win Russia required after the break.    The second goal came in the 50th minute following another sweeping move. Russia went from defence to attack in seconds, culminating with Arshavin sliding in to finish off Zhirkov's cross, then racing off and celebrating with a Jose Mourinho-style "shhhh''.   Sweden refused to throw in the towel and they pushed players forward when Russia were not creating attacks. Mellberg had a decent chance but headed over from a corner.   Russia also threatened to add more goals, and Zyryanov struck the post with 10 minutes remaining. The only sour note for Arshavin was a booking for a trip.

Spain 2   Greece 1
Dani Guiza headed home a late winner as a second-string Spain side battled back from a goal down in Salzburg to leave deposed European champions Greece without a point in Euro 2008.  Angelos Charisteas had given Greece a halftime lead, but second-half goals from Ruben De la Red and Guiza helped Group D winners Spain extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches ahead of their quarter-final showdown against Italy.   Respective coaches Luis Aragones of Spain and Greece's Otto Rehhagel rang the changes for the match at the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim, which had little riding on it other than match practice for one team and pride for the other.   Aragones, as expected, brought in 10 newcomers to the team that had been unchanged for the victories over Russia and Sweden, with Andres Iniesta the only player to have started all three group games.  For Greece, Rehhagel opted only to bring in four new faces to the side that lost to Russia last time out, and kept faith with retiring goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis, who was making his 90th and last appearance for his country.