Who said football is a team sport?

Well it is, but Andrei Arshavin's performance against the Dutch last night stood out like a sore thumb. Pundits and commentators ran out of superlatives to describe the Russian maestro last night and rightly so.

Russia's victory after extra time sent them into the semifinals of the European Championships for the first time since the break up of the USSR. Extra time almost felt unfair for them as they had completely outplayed the Dutch and were physically fitter. Only a string of fine saves from Edwin van der Sar had prevented the Russians from running away with the game. The only real chances for the Dutch came from set pieces as they failed to create anything from open play against a well organised Russian defence. Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart proved dangerous from freekicks but the Dutch did not capitalise from the many chances fashioned by the two. Yuri Zhirkov and Aleksandr Anyukov bombed down the wings and caused the Dutch endless problems whilst Arshavin was on a one man mission, ghosting past opponents at will and creating openings for his teammates as well as nearly scoring a couple of times himself, denied by a fantastic save from van der Sar and narrowly missing the target with a brilliant freekick. Denis Kolodin also had a couple of long range efforts, one which was saved by van der Sar and another narrowly going over the bar.

Roman Pavlyuchenko's goal from Sergei Semak's cross looked to have put the Russians through but van Nistelrooy's header four minutes from time forced the tie into extra time. That blow may have deflated a lesser team but it only served to pump up the Russians. Extra time belonged to them and Arshavin's brilliant looping cross from the left evaded van der Sar and left Dmitri Torbinski the simple task of touching the ball in from a yard out. Arshavin would score Russia's third goal himself, finishing between van der Sar's legs via a deflection, capping off a fantastic day's work for him and adding to his growing reputation.

All of Europe's top clubs must be taking note of Arshavin. Surely he will leave Zenit St. Petursburg to try his hand in one of the big leagues. Reports have claimed Arsenal are already preparing a bid and don't be surprised if the offers continue to pour in for the playmaker. And from my point of view, I would love to see Arshavin at Man Utd. Forget Ronaldo, here's a man who actually performs consistently on the big stage. I know he's only played two games at Euro 2008 but a quarterfinal against the Dutch is hardly a small matter. And he's performed consistently in the qualifiers and for Zenit in the UEFA Cup. As far as I'm concerned, Euro 2008 has only helped to expose his talents to the watching world. Those who have been following his progress will have seen for themselves what a player he is. He has outgrown the Russian league and should be packing his bags for a big money move to a top European league after the Euros. Reports suggest he wants a move as well so the only stumbling block for a club would probably be his transfer fee, likely to have skyrocketed after the Euros. However it should still not be a problem for any of the top clubs to stump up the cash for such a talent.

Russia look the complete package and must surely be considered as a force now, certainly after their dismantling of Holland. No one would be smart to write them off. They are extremely fit, the one constant of all teams managed by Guus Hiddink, play as a team and have wonderfully gifted players as well. A potent combination and a force to be reckoned with. They and Turkey have been the revelation of the tournament so far. You'd usually expect on underdog to take a tournament by storm. Euro 2008 has given us two, enhancing it's reputation as one of the best major tournaments in recent memory. As we near the semifinals, you almost feel a sense of regret that the tournament is slowly drawing to a close.

Spain vs Italy tonight is one I would not bet on. The Spanish are in red hot form, but then again they always are only to crash out prematurely. The Italians have started slowly but they have valuable experience, much more than the young Spaniards. Form counts for nothing in this game, only the performance on the night. It is a tight one to call but the loss of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso may tip the balance in favour of the Spanish. If I had to pick, I'd stick with Spain simply because of the Villa-Torres strike combination, possibly the best in world football today. I wouldn't be surprised if Italy somehow scraped into the semifinals but I'm going for Spain to progress. I'm not betting on it however.