I want Russia to win this match almost as much as I wanted Celtic to win those two games against Rangers three months ago. And that is saying a hell of a lot.

Please, please, please, please let Russia reproduce the form they showed against the Swedes and Dutch, and stride majestically into the final.

It's quite unfortunate that the Russian alphabet lacks the letter "H", as a proper tribute would require you to either have to abandon alliteration or change your first name again.

It is somehow evocative of the two countries' tortured histories that we now have three threads with similar titles.

Perhaps we should go with the Whites vs. the Reds (or are Spain going to have to wear those ridiculous gold things?).

In any case, I am nailing my colours to the mast of this one.

Me too. It's the better thread. I sterted mine in a fit of pique (or, ahahaha, should that be Pique).

Marca is running a story this morning quoting Arshavin as saying that he "has supported Barcelona for [his] entire life" and that it is his "dream" to play for them.

I trust that they just did a global search and replace on the CRonaldo stories.

And yes, Spain will be playing in the Colonel Mustard outfits, notwithstanding the fact that the very superstitious Aragones considers the colour "unlucky" (he once sent Raul home from training for wearing a yellow shirt).

I hate it when footballers lie. Has he fuck been a Barcelona fan for his entire life. When Jaap Stam signed for Manchester United, I'm pretty certain he said all manner of crazy shit like "I used to have posters of Gordon McQueen on my wall when I was a kid." Who falls for this crap?

The definitive way of deciding which thread is the correct one is to see which one features the adhocometer (TM).

This one then.

Beer: Fairly even here. No great shakes for either country, mostly bland rubbish with one or two reasonable lagers available in each country 0-0
Wine: Spain, Spain, Spain. Clear and decisive victory here for the producers of some of the finest (and best value) reds in the world. 0-1
Food: Again Spain, and now maybe they are running away with it. A mediterranean cuisine with Arab influences. No contest. 0-2
Current political situation: This is turning into a rout. Putin and his mini-me versus Europe's most progressive government. 0-3 (and with all of the last three categories, the gap has been so wide as to render the single point awarded somewhat ridiculous - an area where the adhocometer(TM) may have to be adjusted. In effect it should now be 0-25.)
Literature: Finally a match up with some competition. Don Quixote is perhaps the greatest novel ever written, but Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, etc ensure that Russia finally get on the scoreboard. 1-3
Contemporary Music: The recalibration of the adhocometer to ignore the country's musical history hurts Russia quite badly. Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky's excellent works are ignored by the computer, and instead we are left with TaTu and that godawful Eurovision winner. Spain wins again. 1-4

Another convincing victory. The semis have proven to be much more one sided than the quarters were.

In any case, the Barcelona ultras won't be impressed with that.

What Barcelona ultras?

Beat me to it.

I actually think that Arshavin is telling the truth here. He's the right age to have fallen hard for the "Dream Team", and the club's style of play in recent years is quite like his own.

I think saying he's admired Barca from afar is one thing, but claiming he's supported them for his entire life is both cock and bull.

On my four visits to Spain (Mallorca, Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona) from the age of 10 to the present day, I've always had a fantastic time. Russia wouldn't even let me in, the cunts. Fuck Russia. Y Viva Espana!

I think that this might be the first match of tournament between two countries that I've been two. I really, really liked Spain, but I lost my virginity in Russia, so maybe I'll support them.

I'm going for Russia because I like surprise packages.

In a fit of admin organisation I've deleted the other Russia v Spain thread.

Ha. My stamp of authority seals the deal.