Russia beat Sweden to reach Euro 2008 quarter-finals

Russia beat Sweden 2-0 in their Euro 2008 Group D match here on Wednesday and reach the quarter-finals at the expense of their opponents.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored in the 24th minute, for his second of the tournament, and Russian player of the year Andrei Arshavin added a second in the 50th minute to seal victory.

Russia progress to their first ever knockout stages of a major tournament since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and will play Holland in the quarter-final in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday – a repeat to a certain extent of the 1988 final when present Dutch coach Marco van Basten scored in the 2-0 victory over the Soviets.

Russia are also coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who took the Dutch to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals.