Russia bet looking good as Hiddink's young guns fire

A few people had a bit of a laugh behind my back when Russia opened the tournament with a 4-1 defeat to Spain.

But my 40-1 each way bet on Guus Hiddink's side doesn't look quite so daft now!

There are four good teams in the semi-finals and no-one will be all that surprised to see the likes of Germany or Spain in there but, at the start of the tournament, I put my head on the chopping block and said that I thought Russia were vastly under-rated and that they were capable of doing something.

I feel justified now because after that disastrous first game everyone was writing them – and me – off. But they have really come into their own and with Andrei Arshavin back after suspension, he really looks capable of being the catalyst for them. He has really been the player of the tournament for me so far. Roman Pavlyuchenko is another one who has impressed me and they have a few options up front.

It's a shame because the guy who has probably scored most goals in the Russian League recently is Pavel Pogrebnyak, who was suspended from the UEFA Cup final. But he picked up an injury about ten days before the tournament, otherwise we would have seen a lot more of him.

Arshavin though, has been absolutely brilliant. His performance against Holland in the quarter-finals was the individual performance of the tournament and with him in their side, Russia will be a force to be reckoned with, whatever side they are playing.

Anyone who thinks that Spain are nailed-on to go through to the final could be in for a nasty shock. There's no doubt that they are a quality side and that they have good players and good technique, and I respect them, but I think they will find it tough.

Russia are a developing side still. Guus Hiddink has said that his players can be a bit naive at times but they are improving fast. They are quick learners and I would argue that Hiddink is as good a tactical coach as any in the world.

I know that Spain will be the bookies' favourites but I think it is very difficult to call. I wouldn't be surprised to see Russia get through to the final.

I have to admit, though, that, despite Russia making it through, I'm still a little bit upset that my main bet for the tournament, Croatia, were knocked out by Turkey. I got them at 16-1 and, if both Russia and Croatia had made it through to the final, I would have been laughing!

I think that on their day they can beat anyone in the tournament and they were the better team in their quarter-final. You've got to admire the Turks, though, for their ability to turn around a deficit, they've done it a few times in the tournament already.

In a way, I think it is probably a good thing that Croatia didn't progress because that would have meant the two semi-finals would have been played amongst teams from the same group – Germany against Croatia and Spain against Russia. As far as I am concerned, if that had happened then it would have been highly embarrassing for UEFA.

It might have made them realise that the way they organise the tournament and its parallel structure, is laughable.

For me, it's a no-brainer – you can't have a team who qualifies from the group and gets through their quarter-final then coming up against a team they've already played against in the initial stages. Obviously there's nothing you can do if two teams who have played in the same group come up against one another in the final of the competition because it shows that they are the two best teams.

So I think that UEFA would probably have been very relieved to have seen Croatia go out because it would have been highly embarrassing for all of their semi-finalists to have already played one another at the group stages.

That would have looked pretty daft and it's just fortunate that they managed to avoid it. That apart, I think that the tournament as a whole has been incredibly exciting – although everyone remembers how poor the Romania v. France game was.

I felt that the Italians last night were trying to strangle the game. They are masters of soaking up all the pressure and waiting to hit on the counter, but I didn't feel that they threatened much, other than the odd occasion. They looked like they had the physical edge but they didn't do anything with it.

I really thought that they should have played two up front if they were to have any real chance of winning because that would have occupied Spain a bit more.

At times it was keep-ball for Spain and I think that at the end of the day most neutrals would have been pleased to have seen them progress because it just goes to show that there is some justice out there.


Courage of referee is to be admired
I'VE got to admit that I have got nothing but admiration for Lubos Michel, who was brave enough to overturn his decision to send Denis Kolodin off on Saturday night.

It's very, very unusual for a referee to do a U-turn, particularly on a stage of that size and I really admire officials who have the courage to do something like that. Whether he was right or wrong is another matter altogether, but I do think that it showed an awful lot of bravery to acknowledge that he may have made a mistake and to act on it.

Most referees, deep down, know they wouldn't have the courage to do that kind of thing during the course of a game. The majority, unfortunately, would probably accept that they may have got a decision wrong during the 90 minutes but that it is too late to do anything about it and accept they will just have to stand up and be counted when the TV cameras replay it and the decision is analysed after the final whistle.

It's good to see the referee being helped out by a strong linesman in Martin Balko as well because, for years, I have felt that the assistant referees have been a bit like penguins, standing with their hands down by their sides and not really doing an awful lot.

For a few years, when there was no other contact between them other than eye contact, the linesman would wait to see what the referee was going to do and vice versa and then put his flag up afterwards.

I would like to see linesmen more involved, and, if we are going to have a fourth official, they should become more involved.

I just want to see officials get the right decision and I don't care how long it takes. I would rather they took a bit more time about it just as long as they make the right decision.

A delay of 30 seconds or so is nothing and I don't think supporters would mind either – particularly if it means the difference between their side winning or losing vital games.