Inspirational Arshavin lost for words

Andrei Arshavin was, as he himself admitted, left lost for words by his country's 3-1 defeat of the Netherlands. However, as the realities of Russia's breathtaking extra-time victory sunk in, the 27-year-old summoned the composure to share his reaction with euro2008.com and commend his coach, Guus Hiddink, for masterminding an against-the-odds success.

'Brilliant' night
"This is brilliant for me, for Russia, for my family. To be honest, I don't know what to say – all I can say is that we won," the Carlsberg Man of the Match, selected by the UEFA Technical Team, said. "At times, it was a difficult game, physically, but no one should worry about that. The main thing is that we won. To be quite honest, I expected more from them [the Netherlands]. I thought they would play more aggressively. But it looked like they lost a lot of their energy before us and one brilliant coach beat eleven excellent players. When you play under such a great manager, we play a totally different game."

Dramatic impact
Suspended for his side's first two matches at UEFA EURO 2008™, Arshavin's impressive finals debut – in Russia's 2-0 success against Sweden – resulted in him being named Carlsberg Man of the Match for that game too. Then he created the first goal and netted the second. Tonight, against the Netherlands, he delivered once again by doubling his tournament goals and assists tallies after laying the ball on to Dmitri Torbinski to make it 2-1 before insuring the victory with Russia's third goal in the 116th minute.

Vintage year
It is fair to say 2008 has already been quite a year for the dynamic forward. He produced another Man of the Match display in the UEFA Cup final in May to help his club, FC Zenit St. Petersburg, beat Rangers FC to lift their first piece of continental silverware. And on the night he won his 36th cap for Russia, he played an instrumental role in their securing a place in the UEFA European Championship semi-finals.

'Tactically aware'
Morten Olsen, part of the UEFA Technical Team, explained why they singled out Arshavin as a memorable game's best performer. "His team performed very well and he, in particular, was fantastic," the Denmark boss and former AFC Ajax coach said. "Not only did he score the third goal, but his assist also made the second. His movement throughout was brilliant, technically he was outstanding, and tactically he was very aware."