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Spain and Russia desperate to advance

Ignacio Quereda expects an intense Group C showdown when his Spain team take on Russia with a quarter-final spot at stake and Sergei Lavrentyev urging his side to "go out and attack".

Spain coach Ignacio Quereda hopes his side can reach the last eight
Spain coach Ignacio Quereda hopes his side can reach the last eight ©AFP

Spain coach Ignacio Quereda wants his players to be "true to themselves, their philosophy and approach to the game" when they take on Russia in Norrkoping, with both teams hopeful of progressing from Group C.

Spain need a point to finish second behind France, but Quereda expects Russia to "play with intensity from the start" as they look for the win that would secure their place in the last eight. His opposite number, Sergei Lavrentyev, hopes Russia will put in their best performance of the tournament so far and, like Quereda, he dismissed the significance of Spain's 2-1 friendly victory against them in January.

Permutations
• Spain will clinch second place with a draw or win. They can only finish bottom and not have a chance of going through as a best third-placed team if they lose and England win.

• Russia will be through with a victory. They will finish second if they win and England do not beat France by enough to match them on goal difference and goals scored (if both finish level, England will be second due to their coefficient as per Article 8.05 of the official competition regulations).

• If both Russia and England lose, neither could go through as a best third-placed team. If Russia draw and England lose, Russia will go into the best third-placed draw with Denmark.

Sergei Lavrentyev, Russia coach
Spain are a completely different team to the team we met half a year ago. This Spain have much more quality; they've become more organised. They are difficult opponents, but we are still capable of beating them.

Our position in the group does not give us many choices – we must go out and attack, playing for a victory. It is hard to rate the previous games, but I would say that we did not perform well against France and then we were better against England. Hopefully we will continue to move forward and put in the performance of the tournament against Spain and beat them.

The physical condition of the team is good. We underwent the proper preparations before the finals and have all we need to recover after the matches, so that will not be the biggest problem.

Matchday one result
France 3-1 Russia (Delie 21 32, Le Sommer 67; Morozova 84)

Matchday two result
England 1-1 Russia (Duggan 90+2; Korovkina 38)
Todua; Petrova, Sidorovskaya, Tsybutovich, Medved; Terekhova (Kurochkina 90+3), Kostyukova, Savchenkova (Dyachkova 84), Sochneva; Korovkina (Shlyapina 90); Morozova.

• Player of the match: Valentina Savchenkova

• Russia were on the verge of springing an upset thanks to Olesya Kurochkina's headed opener close to half-time. England's late pressure finally told, however, Toni Duggan sweeping the ball in from substitute Kelly Smith's cross.

• On a booking: Tatiana Skotnikova, Anastasia Kostyukova

Team news
Russia lost Anastasia Pozdeeva to a cruciate ligament injury in their opening match against France, but otherwise Lavrentyev has a full squad to pick from.

Ignacio Quereda, Spain coach
Obviously the main danger is that Russia must win to qualify because a draw might not be enough. Russia will put a lot of pressure on us and play with intensity from the start. We will see a different Russia side [to the one defeated 2-1 in a January friendly] because for that game in Murcia, Russia had seven players who are not here. We have seen how they have developed since then against France and England, and I honestly don't think their team now has anything to do with the one we faced earlier this year.

We as coaches, with background and experience, try to convey calmness to the team so the players can be true to themselves, their philosophy and approach to the game. We'll have to do a great job on the mental side of things for the players to contribute everything they can.

Obviously we are happy because we have the possibility of qualifying for the next round, which was our goal when we got here. We are now well-placed to achieve this. As for who we might face in the quarter-finals, we don't care because if you want to go far in the tournament you have to beat everybody. We don't have a special preference. Perhaps Sweden for the atmosphere that game might have, but we hope to finish second.

Matchday one result
England 2-3 Spain (Aluko 8, Bassett 89; Verónica Boquete 5, Hermoso 86, Putellas 90+3)

Matchday two result
Spain 0-1 France (Renard 5)
Tirapu; Torrejón, Paredes, Diéguez, Ibarra; Sonia (Vicky 78), Meseguer, Sandra (Vázquez 85), Adriana (Putellas 78); Hermoso, Boquete.

• Player of the match: Laura Georges

• Victory for Spain would have sent them into the last eight as Group C winners, but they were unable to claw their way back following Wendie Renard's early header. Instead, the result confirmed Les Bleues as the top side in the section.

• On a booking: Irene Paredes, Nagore Calderón

Team news
Spain have no injury concerns and Quereda will decide on his starting lineup on the day of the game.

Match facts
• The two sides locked horns in the 1997 finals in Sweden. Meeting like now in their last group game, Russia were out after two losses but Spain were within three points of France. Les Bleues lost 3-0 to Sweden, meaning Spain's 1-0 victory in Karlskoga – with Ángeles Parejo scoring the goal – took them into the semi-finals on goal difference.

Did you know?
• Spain's only previous qualification was in 1997. However, their Women's U17s (2010 and 2011) and U19s (2004) teams have both won European titles and this is the only UEFA national-team competition (including men, women, youth and futsal) that Spain have never won.

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