Perennial underachievers Spain will be looking to get their Euro 2008 campaign off to a flying start when they take on Russia.

The two sides are no strangers, as they also met in the group stage in Portugal four years ago. Juan Carlos Valeron proved to be the Red Fury’s match-winner on that occasion, but neither side reached the quarter-finals so they will be hoping to improve their fortunes this time out.

With the likes of Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres in their ranks, Spain are unsurprisingly being tipped by many to win their first European Championship in over 40 years, when they beat the USSR in the Final. Luis Aragones’ men made a meal out of their qualification campaign, but they’ve been in good form of late and picked up an impressive friendly win over Italy earlier this year.

“We are here, hungry and ready,” revealed Arsenal ace Fabregas. "I believe the keys to winning a tournament are confidence, physical fitness and possessing a tough mentality. You build around quality, but it’s defending and not conceding needless goals which wins you trophies. If Spain can match that then we have ample attacking quality and then we can think about winning the tournament.”

Aragones is set to start the tournament with a two-man strike force comprising of Torres and Valencia’s David Villa, which looks as potent a pairing as you’re likely to find. Xabi Alonso netted a wonder goal in training, but the Juventus target is unlikely to force his way into a midfield which could be missing either Fabregas or Andres Iniesta, with Marco Senna expected to be preferred in a holding role. And there will be a lot of pressure on the defensive duo of Ramos and Carles Puyol, with Carlos Marchena and Joan Capdevilla prone to mistakes.

Russia, meanwhile, will be looking to cause an upset or two having failed to make an impact in their two previous European Championships as an independent nation. Guus Hiddink’s men came through a tricky qualification group at the expense of England and, aside from their trip to Wembley, generally looked pretty sound defensively. Their organisational skills are very similar to Greece’s four years ago, but the loss of playmaker Andrei Arshavin through suspension for the first two games is a huge blow.

However, Hiddink has promised that his side haven’t come to Euro 2008 to defend. “Of course there are nerves but I don’t want them to play in a way that it will weigh heavily on them and affect their performance," the Dutchman stated. "They must express themselves and when they do that they can play football, that’s for sure. I want to see a very bright team. People like to see a team which is going forward and taking risks, so because of this there have been a few tactical changes recently."

The biggest adjustment seems to have been a switch to a 4-4-2 rather than the 3-5-2 used throughout much of the qualifying campaign, but it remains to be seen whether there will be a change of personnel in the back four. However, one certainty is that Pavel Pogrebnyak will not be taking part in the tournament after pulling out with a knee injury, so Roman Pavlyuchenko is almost certain to lead the attack. Konstantin Zyrianov will be charged with supplying him with chances after some fine performances in training, but Igor Semshov is sweating on his place after failing to impress Hiddink and his teammates during practice.

Key clash: Fernando Torres v Sergei Ignashevich
Few strikers enjoyed the 2007-08 campaign more than Fernando Torres. The Liverpool ace – who cost £21m last summer – proved to be worth every penny as he scored every type of goal you can imagine. The bad news for Russia is that he has displayed that sort of form for his country too. Thankfully, Guus Hiddink’s men have the impressive Sergei Ignashevich to try and keep him quiet. The CSKA Moscow stopper will be desperate to make a good impression after missing the last event through injury. What better way than by shutting down Torres?

Ref From channel4.com