Russia coach Guus Hiddink is confident star striker Pavel Pogrebnyak will be fit for his side's UEFA EURO 2008™ opener against Spain on 10 June, despite suffering an injury scare against Serbia last night.
'Pain'
Pogrebnyak limped off with a knee problem on 16 minutes soon after opening the scoring in a 2-1 win with a long-range free-kick. He had not been involved in a collision with another player, but simply signalled to the bench that he was in serious pain and Hiddink took him off immediately. "I didn't understand [what had happened]," Pogrebnyak said. "There was no challenge but suddenly my left knee was in a lot of pain."
Munich tests
The FC Zenit St. Petersburg striker and Russia's team doctor Andrei Grishanov have driven to Munich from their training base in the German town of Rottah for precautionary tests. No details of the injury have yet been divulged, but Hiddink is confident he will soon have his striker available again. "We think everything will be all right with him," Hiddink said.
Good win
Pogrebnyak's injury scare was the only concern on a positive night for Russia who went on to win thanks to a Roman Pavlyuchenko strike two minutes into the second half. "Of course I'm happy about the result, just like after any victory," Hiddink said. "It was important to understand the physical condition of the players. We want to be competitive at EURO 2008, that's why we put a lot of effort into being successful in both friendly and competitive matches."
Top scorer
Pogrebnyak, who has scored four times in nine appearances for Russia, is a key member of Hiddink's side and comes into the tournament buoyed by finishing the season as the ten-goal top scorer in the UEFA Cup alongside Luca Toni. The 24-year-old, however, had the misfortune of missing Zenit's final victory against Rangers FC through suspension so will be doubly determined to be sure he is fit for Russia's opener in Innsbruck.
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