Mission accomplished says Arshavin after 1-0 win over minnows

MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Andrei Arshavin has said that Russia's nervy 1-0 win in Lichtenstein was a case of the result being more important than the performance as the side attempt to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Russia never found their flow against minnows Lichtenstein on Wednesday evening, and were fortunate not to concede an equalizer as the final whistle approached. In the end, a first-half strike by Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov gave Guus Hiddink's men victory and, coming on the heels of a 2-0 home win over Azerbaijan on Saturday, maximum points from two qualifiers in five days.

"To be honest, we set ourselves the task of getting a result against Liechtenstein from the first minute," Arshavin, whose pass set Zyryanov up, told the Sport Weekend paper.

"It's clear that the spectators were expecting an altogether different result, and we also wanted to score more. On the other hand, we needed to take six points from two matches and we accomplished this. Right now, that's the most important thing," the Arsenal forward said.

"We played for the result in both matches," he added.

Group 4 leaders Germany beat Wales 2-0 in Cardiff on Wednesday evening to remain four points clear of second-placed Russia, who have a game in hand. The first-placed side in each of the nine European qualifying groups goes through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, while the best eight second-placed sides play off for a spot at the tournament.

Russia's next qualifier is away to Finland on June 10. They host Germany in Moscow on October 10 in what is likely to be the deciding fixture in the group.

In the pick of Wednesday's other World Cup qualifying ties, England beat Ukraine 2-1 at Wembley, Bolivia stunned Argentina 6-1 in La Paz, South Korea beat North Korea 1-0 in Seoul and Poland put 10 without reply past a hapless San Marino side.