Fuente: © UEFA (English)
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EURO 2008: Hiddink proud of Russian creation

/noticias.info/ On a damp, dark night, high in the Austrian Alps, a team bus pulled up outside a hotel and a group of young footballers wearily disembarked before entering into what would be their home for the coming weeks.

Confused beginnings
With bags strewn about the hotel lobby and players walking in opposite directions, the imposing figure of Guus Hiddink emerged, red-faced and irritated. He did not want to talk to reporters, just to check into his room and settle down for the night. Heads bowed and silent in their pursuit of identifying one of the identical bags as their own, several players continued to look like confused mathematicians trying to decipher a complicated equation. Thus was Team Russia's arrival at their base in Leogang. With UEFA EURO 2008™ just days away, this bunch seemed some way off a continental-class outfit.

Harsh lesson
The confusion of the hotel lobby scenario was, in a sense, played out in the team's first game, a 4-1 drubbing by Spain. Russia's defence, in particular, was in disarray and picked off almost at will by Spain's lethal front line. It was a harsh lesson for the youngest side at the tournament and stinging words from their coach followed in the dressing room. They had been "childish and naïve" according to Hiddink who, allegedly, lambasted several members of the team at half-time. The 61-year-old challenged his players to "run away, or to stand up and fight."

Marked improvement
But the team responded unanimously. Russia fought back with impressive victories over Greece (1-0) and Sweden (2-0), all the time appearing to gather momentum, to set up a quarter-final clash with the Netherlands. The turnaround has been admirable and nobody is more proud of Russia's achievement than Hiddink himself. "I don't think there are any secrets," the Dutchman said. "My approach is to work with young, ambitious people. I also like to look for players who have the ability to form part of a creative team. Then we start working every day with the guys and I give them the instructions in training, but the sessions are focused on the games – we're not just training in order to pass the time. There is a goal in mind, we're playing towards something and the players did very well in the last two games. We've had two clean sheets and didn't give away many chances. The improvement is not only in the creative part of the team, but also in the destructive part where we prevented our opponents creating chances."

'Only one winner'
Russia have been receiving plaudits from all quarters for their free-flowing, attacking approach, with Hiddink receiving special praise for stamping his strong beliefs on how his players perform. "We like to emphasise attractive, creative, dominant and controlled play — it's profitable if you can win a title as well — but I think that this way, there is only one winner, as has been shown by the Dutch team here," he said. "I'm happy and proud of the Russian boys in that they have the same approach. They have less experience than the Dutch and, as such, I'm very proud that they are trying to play with the same style."

Serious 'potential'
Russia's players have visibly grown under Hiddink's guidance over the past weeks. Central defender Denis Kolodin seems transformed from the man who struggled badly against Spain. Full-back Aleksandr Anyukov has grown more alert to danger and his attacking spirit and energy were evident when he provided Roman Pavlyuchenko with the pass for Russia's first goal against Sweden. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Konstantin Zyryanov have both hit form and, along with Andrei Arshavin, have formed a fearsome midfield unit. "There is a lot of potential," Hiddink noted. "They perform tremendously and have a very good attitude. They play in a way that all the world thinks is attractive. We are very happy to be here and, although we have such a short time to prepare [for the game against the Netherlands], we will try to focus on this beautiful game." notas_de_prensa_archivo