Spain - 1 Russia - 0: Admirers of old-fashioned wing play had a good time in the Algarve on Saturday night. Vicente Rodriguez and Joseba Etxeberria of Spain spent 90 minutes giving Russia's defence a two-part inquisition that provoked the surrender of three points to a team hoping to win the European championship for the first time since 1964, when their opponents in the final were the representatives of the old Soviet Union.

As Vicente and Etxeberria went about their work, Russia could certainly have done with reinforcements from their old constituencies. But it was to the credit of Georgi Yartsev's squad that they never gave up hope, and their meeting with Portugal in Lisbon on Wednesday should be a lively one.

If Vicente, patrolling the left wing, used the first half to soften up Russia, Etxeberria came into his own on the opposite flank after the interval. Ruben Baraja met his cross with a shot that was hectically blocked, Raul sent a poor header wide from a perfect position, and another cross grazed the forehead of Fernando Morientes before the decisive moment arrived just on the hour.

A few moments earlier Inaki Saez had made a double substitution, sending on Juan Carlos Valeron and Xabi Alonso for Morientes and Baraja. "We wanted to push Raul farther upfield and to use Valeron's ability to hold the ball and give passes," the coach said.

No sooner had the replacements trotted into position than Etxeberria turned infield to confront a defender. When the ball broke loose, Carles Puyol saw an opportunity and sprinted for the byline before pulling back a low cross. With his first touch of the game, Valeron brought the ball under control about 10 yards out. With his second, having shifted his weight to throw the defence off balance, he guided a left-foot shot under the body of the diving Sergei Ovchinnikov.

"We weren't always well organised in defence, and particularly at that moment," Yartsev said afterwards. The coach had dealt with the absence through injury of his two first-choice central defenders, Sergei Ignashevich and Victor Onopko, by drafting in two midfielders, Roman Sharonov and the captain, Alexei Smertin of Portsmouth. He was rewarded by an outstanding performance from Smertin, whose anticipation saved Russia from a heavier defeat.

"We never stopped fighting," Yartsev said, and none fought harder than Dmitri Bulykin. The lone forward skimmed past Ivan Helguera with seven minutes to go before attracting a ferocious body-check just outside the area from David Albelda. When Sharonov, already cautioned, brought down the quicksilver Fernando Torres five minutes later, Urs Meier had no option but to dismiss the Russian.

Torres put Vicente through in injury-time for a shot that hit Ovchinnikov's legs and came close to increasing Spain's lead in the closing seconds when he met Valeron's pass with a volley that flew over the bar.

Spain deserved their victory, but the ineffective performances of Raul and Morientes will give the coach something to think about before his side meets Greece on Wednesday.