Russia advance to quarterfinals with 2-0 win

INNSBRUCK, Austria:

Russia scored a goal in each half on Wednesday to beat Sweden 2-0 and advance to the European Championship quarterfinals ahead of its opponent.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored in the first half and Andrei Arshavin, coming off a two-match suspension, made it 2-0 right after the break to set up a match against the Netherlands on Saturday in Basel.

Russia finished second behind Spain on six points in Group D, three ahead of Sweden.

The youthful Russians outpaced the experienced Swedes to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time since the break up of the Soviet Union. For Sweden, which only needed a draw to advance, it was the first group stage exit at a major tournament since Euro 2000.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink, who has maintained his record of reaching the knockout stage in every international tournament he has coached at, will now take on his home country, which he led to the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup.

Hiddink's move to pick Arshavin in his starting team paid off as the playmaker picked up a pass from Yuri Zhirkov in a fast Russian counterattack and scored with a right-footed shot in the 50th minute.

The goal stunned the Swedes, who had struggled to contain Russia's attack throughout the first half.

Pavlyuchenko had given Russia the lead in the 24th after being set up inside the box by Aleksandr Anyukov following a series of quick passes that ripped open the defense.