Russia secured the last European football Championship quarterfinal spot on June 18 by beating Sweden 2:0, while Spain added insult to injury for defending champions Greece, who exit the tournament without a single point and with a solitary goal after losing 2:1 to Spanish reserves.

Needing a win, Russia began the match on the front foot, boosted by the return of star playmaker Andrei Arshavin from a two-match ban. Half-hearted Swedish attempts to breach the Russian defence were swept aside with ease and it was Arshavin who was presented with the first clear chance of the match, but his header in the 13th minute was wide of the mark.

Against the tournament's oldest team, which fielded six players aged over 30 from the start, Russia's youthful zest shined through, with Sweden barely managing to hold onto the ball and calm down the pace of the match after the opening exchanges.

Predictably, Russia's efforts paid off already half-way through the first half, Roman Pavlyuchenko capping a slick move with the simplest of tap-ins. Sweden came close to equalising, Henrik Larsson hitting the crossbar several minutes later.

Aware that a draw would see Sweden through, Russia continued to attack, but left little space in defence for Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Larsson to exploit. With Sweden forced to chase the game in the second half, Russia capitalised on the counter, this time the brilliant Arshavin turning in the ball after a quick succession of crisp passes.

Russia could have run up the score to humiliating proportions, but a combination of luck, the ball striking woodwork twice, and goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson's skill kept the final result unchanged.

In the night's other match, Spain fielded a team full of reserves, choosing to rest their first team for their quarterfinal date with Italy after securing qualification with one match to spare.

It took the Spaniards some time to get into the game, their most dangerous chance before half-time coming from a cheeky chip by Xabi Alonso from the halfway line. But against the run of play, Greece took the lead just before the interval through Angelos Charisteas' header.

Four years ago, it would have been enough for Greece to claim all three points, but this time around it would prove their only consolation for the entire tournament.

Spain stepped up their attacks after the break, Alonso trying another long shot, which this time struck the crossbar. In the end, the equaliser came from Ruben de la Red, his first goal for the senior side, whose powerful shot left goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis no chance.

With two minutes to go, striker Dani Guiza, top scorer in the Spanish Primera Division last season, grabbed the winner after being left alone by Greek defenders in the goalkeeper's area.

Over the next four days, the field of contenders will be narrowed down to four teams, Germany and Portugal playing the first quarterfinal on June 19, followed by Croatia vs Turkey, the Netherlands vs Russia and Spain vs Italy.