Hiddink readies Russia for high-flying Dutch

Hiddink readies Russia for high-flying Dutch

Fri 20th, June 2008

Basel, Switzerland (Sports Network) – Russia manager Guus Hiddink will be facing a familiar foe on Saturday when his team meets the Netherlands in the third quarterfinal of Euro 2008.

Hiddink guided the Dutch to the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup, and has since become known as a man capable of performing small miracles. He took South Korea to the semifinals of the World Cup in 2002, and Australia to the knockout round in 2006 for the first time in their history.

Now, Hiddink will be charged with helping underdog Russia navigate its way into the last four of Euro 2008, a task that looks quite daunting with an in- form Dutch side awaiting them.

While Russia needed a win over Sweden in its final group stage match to get into the knockout round, the Netherlands had no such trouble in dominating the “Group of Death”.

The Dutch were viewed as outsiders to finish in the top two when they were drawn into Group C with Italy, France and Romania. However, Marco van Basten’s side has looked like the most impressive team in the entire competition as they outscored that trio of teams by a combined score of 9-1 en route to a perfect 3-0 record.

Now, the Dutch will try to keep that momentum going as they gear up for what they hope will be a run to their first major title in 20 years.

They will enter their quarterfinal match with Russia as favorites, but the Russians proved against Sweden that they are a team that is just hitting its stride.

Hiddink’s roster is the youngest in the entire competition, and that inexperience showed against Spain in a 4-1 defeat in the team’s opener.

Russia was then able to grind out a 1-0 win over Greece to set themselves up for a must-win game against Sweden, and they looked like a different team in soundly beating the Swedes 2-0.

The biggest difference was the presence of midfielder Andrey Arshavin, who missed the first two games because of suspension. With Arshavin in the lineup, the Russians were deadly on the counter attack and looked dangerous throughout the match.

Striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has scored two goals in three games, found more room to operate with Arshavin in the lineup, while both Alexander Aniukov and Yuri Zhirkov both found plenty of space on the wings.

Arshavin’s return makes Russia a much better team, but they will need all the help they can get in trying to stop the Dutch, who have been absolutely unstoppable offensively.

Van Basten will have a few decisions to make ahead of Saturday’s game with so many quality players vying for time in the midfield.

Wesley Sneijder has been brilliant with two goals and two assists in just two matches, while Arjen Robben has shaken off an injury that kept him out of the opener to tally a goal and an assist.

Dirk Kuyt replaced Robben in the lineup and all he has done is score two times with one assist. Rafael van der Vaart’s place in the starting 11 looks to be secure, and Nigel de Jong will likely play a defensive role in the middle of the field.

Robin van Persie has also made a case to join Ruud van Nistelrooy in the lineup after scoring a pair of goals with one assist in three games.

The style of the two teams promises an exciting end-to-end contest, with the Dutch holding a slight edge in offensive firepower.

However, Hiddink has pulled off bigger upsets in his career, and it would be tough to write his team off now.

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