The preview to EURO semis

Turkey and Russia will be missing key men through suspension for their respective semi-finals against Germany and Spain after the lineup for the last four was completed on Sunday night.

Two out
None of the three Spain players already on a booking – Álvaro Arbeloa, Daniel Güiza or Carlos Marchena – picked up another yellow card in the shoot-out win against Italy at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion, meaning coach Luis Aragonés will have a full complement of players to choose from for Thursday’s return to the Austrian capital. Not so his Russia counterpart Guus Hiddink, who will be without defender Denis Kolodin and attacking midfielder Dmitri Torbinski after both were cautioned in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat of the Netherlands.

Turkey concern
Aside from a rib injury to Torsten Frings, Germany’s Joachim Löw has no concerns as he looks forward to Wednesday’s showdown with a Turkey side unable to call on four players in Basel. No1 goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is serving the second part of a two-match ban following his dismissal against the Czech Republic, while Emre Asik, Arda Turan and Tuncay Sanly all sit out the game after being booked in the quarter-final against Croatia having been yellow-carded previously.

Very good decision
The UEFA Executive Committee decided at its meeting in Moscow last month to cancel single yellow cards at the end of the quarter-finals, rather than after the group stage. Consequently, a situation will not arise whereby players receive a second yellow card of the tournament in the semi-finals and are suspended for the final as a result. UEFA President Michel Platini said at the time: “It’s a very good decision for lovers of football and TV spectators, who will be able to see the best players taking part in the final – as long as they are not sent off in the semi-final.”

Meanwhile on the race of the top-scorer list …

David Villa may have drawn a blank in Spain’s quarter-final against Italy, apart from in the penalty shoot-out, but he remains top of the goalscoring standings with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Lukas Podolski leading the chase.

Pavlyuchenko closing
Villa’s hat-trick against Russia in their opening Group D game – the teams will now be rematched in the semi-finals – is the key to the Valencia CF forward’s supremacy, along with his last-gasp winner against Sweden four days later. One goal behind are Germany attacker Podolski, who also failed to register in the last eight against Portugal, Hakan Yakin of eliminated Switzerland, and Russia front man Pavlyuchenko, who added to his strikes against Spain and Sweden with the opener in their quarter-final defeat of the Netherlands.

Semih feat
Of the players on two goals, a pair of new contenders for the prize have emerged. Semih Sentürk’s second equaliser as a Turkey substitute, at the end of extra time against Croatia, moved him into the reckoning – and he is likely to start against Germany on Wednesday given Nihat Kahveci’s enforced departure. Meanwhile, having missed Russia’s meetings with Spain and Greece through suspension, Andrei Arshavin has netted against Sweden and the Netherlands to stake a claim. Podolski and Villa remain two goals behind the leading marksman in the overall competition, including qualification, Northern Ireland’s David Healy on 13.

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