Word: hiddink
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...being twice-trounced by Spain, Russia had been the tournament's other bright light, and it too played the high-tempo attacking game of the Spanish. A ghost of its CCCP past, this team announced that once again Russia was ready to play on the world soccer stage. Guus Hiddink's men, led by its striking partnership of Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin, had the wannabe oligarchs in attendance contentedly puffing on their Havanas. The only pity was that the Russians had to play Spain twice...
...forward. Then, five minutes into the second half, Xavi speared a goal for Spain, redirecting Iniesta's cross/shot past Igor Akinfeev. You could sense the panic on the Russian side. The roles were now very clear: Russia was the mouse and Spain was toying with it. Russian coach Guus Hiddink knew that his team's lack of depth and a big-game resume was a vulnerability: "Big teams know how to use their experience, and the longer a game goes on they know they have better qualities. It was new for Korea [the team he coached...
...over Croatia - by beating the Dutch at their own game in a stunning 3-1 win in extra time. "What the boys did in their commitment, what they did to outplay tactically, physically the Dutch team. It's almost a miracle," said Russian coach, the Dutchman "Lucky" Guus Hiddink. What the Russians did is learn and adapt in the course of a long tournament. In their first game, against Spain, the Russian back line played too far up the field and got torched by the Spanish front of Fernando Torres and David Villa. They weren't going to make that...
...game for Holland, Arjen Robben being unavailable. Finally, Ruud van Nistelrooy converted a free kick with a far-post header to level the game in the 86th minute. Yet the Russians held together and then took charge in overtime. "The most important thing is our movement," noted Pavlyuchenko. "Hiddink said that if we kept going, the Dutch would be worn out sooner or later. I have no idea where our energy came from. We were very good going forward - the attack was supported not by one, but by three or four people." That continued in the overtime, when Russian...
...subduing Sweden with two nearly perfect goals, the second a five-pass combination that Andrei Arshavin finished to give the throng of supporters shouting "Roos-y-a" the feeling that the Mighty Bear, which won the first Euro in 1960 as the CCCP, was back. Yet coach Guus Hiddink has already warned his team not to be naïve. The Russians couldn't handle Spain's Fernando Torres and David Villa, and the Dutch are yet to peak...