Russia’s interest in Euro 2004 ended tonight with their 2-0 defeat by Portugal.
They were outplayed throughout the first half, perhaps lucky to be down by only the one goal. But their luck ran out when goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov was sent off for handball. A dubious decision when one considers that he didn’t actually touch the ball with his hand.
10 man Russia came out after the break, however, full of energy. Instead of sitting back and hoping to score on the break, they took the fight to Portugal. The better, more creative side for much of the remainder of the match, they were again unfortunate to be caught out by a late Portugese goal.
All that remains is the third group match against Greece where, although they cannot do anything but finish bottom of the group, they can have a major say in who actually does qualify.
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