Alenichev aims to bounce back
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Article summary
Dmitri Alenichev has turned his sights to Russia's match against Portugal after the disappointing defeat by Spain.
Article body
Russia midfield player Dmitri Alenichev has already turned his sights to the next match against Portugal after yesterday's disappointing defeat by Spain.
Brightest spark
Alenichev was arguably Russia's brightest spark in Faro-Loulé - making one superb burst through the Spain defence to create his side's best opening in the first half - but Juan Carlos Valerón's 60th-minute strike sealed a 1-0 win and left Russia with plenty of work to do in Group A.
'We have a chance'
The FC Porto winger none the less remains confident that they can get back on track against the host nation on Wednesday. "I believe we have a chance [of beating Portugal]," he told euro2004.com. "To be honest I wasn't that surprised that they lost to Greece. I saw some of their performances in the warm-up matches and they weren't that impressive."
Fatigue a factor
Russia matched Spain for long periods of the first half but found it harder to contain Iñaki Sáez's team after the break, and Alenichev admitted that fatigue was a factor. "Everybody could see that we were tired in the second half," he said, speaking from Russia's training ground where the players who were not involved against Spain took part in a light session this morning. "We had a good spell in the first half, but after the break we just couldn't find our feet. We had no fuel left."
Improvement promised
The defeat saw Russia equal a UEFA European Championship finals record, as it was their eighth consecutive match without a win. But captain Aleksei Smertin, who performed admirably in his new role as a central defender, is refusing to let his head drop. "We knew all along that we could qualify even if we lost to Spain," he said. "We have a chance against Portugal and Greece and I'm sure we'll improve."
'Game was even'
Goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov, meanwhile, revealed his disappointment at failing to stop Valerón's shot. "I think the game was even and with a bit of luck, we could have won," he said. "But I have to admit that Spain showed more skill than us - even if I could have saved the goal. If I had stayed put I would have stopped it but I jumped to the side."
