Spain and Russia (including Soviet Union) have met each other on nine previous occasions with Spain winning five times and Russia only once.
The sole defeat for Spain came in a European Championship qualifier in 1971 with the Soviets winning 2-1.
Spain have won all three previous encounters at the European Championship, 2-1 in 1964, 1-0 in 2004 and 4-1 at Euro 2008.
David Villa scored the first hat-trick of Euro 2008 as Spain hammered Russia with a fine victory in the league stage.
With the return of Andrei Arshavin, Russians are hoped to invert the history of losing to the Spain as happened in their last 3 counterparts in the Euro cup.
Free running and sharp passingmid-fielders Konstantin Zyryanov and IgorSemshov, together with virtual wing-backs Alexander Anyukov and Yuri Zhirkov, add more threat.
The main worry for the Russian Team is absence of suspended centre back Denis Kolodin, who helped reorganise the defence into a unit that has conceded only one further goal after the Spain defeat.
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