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It’s Russia’s turn to look for a miracle

Daniel Garcia Marco

Guus Hiddink, a sought-after magician, is possibly the best man for the job

— Photo: AP

GUESS WHO’S IN CHARGE: After Guus Hiddink’s success story with South Korea and Australia, it’s now the turn of Russia to look up to the famous coach to do well in Euro 2008.

Vienna: First it was South Korea, then Australia and now it’s Russia which needs a football miracle. And it has found the best possible man for the job — Guus Hiddink.

Hiddink is, at 61, a sought-after magician thought to hold the recipe for success. And that is why he is wanted anywhere in the world when it comes to seeking a watershed moment.

Russia is longing to regain a place in the spotlight of European football. It entrusted Hiddink with its regeneration, and the coach has already fulfilled part of the requirements alongside a group of young players: to take part in the 2008 Euro in Austria and Switzerland. But the miracle could continue.

“We are very happy to be in the Euro because Russian football is changing, there are new methods and new players in the team, the average age has fallen to 24. We are changing, we hope we can manage a miracle, give a big surprise and get through to the second round,” Hiddink told DPA in an interview in Vienna.

Earning a reputation

The coach made a name for himself with his success at PSV Eindhoven — with which he won the European Champions Cup in 1988 — and he became a point of reference in Spain with an attractive brand of football, always loyal to his Dutch roots.

But as a veteran he is no longer on the agenda of great European clubs. His mission has changed. After just missing success with the Netherlands in the 1998 World Cup, where it reached the semifinals, he prepared his luggage to go to South Korea in 2000.

There, he was faced with the difficult challenge of making a competitive team out of the host of the upcoming World Cup.

To the football secrets in his suitcase, he added the enthusiasm of the players and of a whole country that was crazy about the sport. And he performed the miracle — South Korea made it to the semifinals in its own 2002 World Cup.

An honorary citizen of South Korea, Hiddink returned to the Netherlands to claim more titles with PSV.

Mission

But in 2006 he again got his suitcase out of the cupboard, to go further away than he had ever gone — his mission was to take Australia to its second World Cup ever.

Hiddink was hired to save the decisive play-off with a South American team. Uruguay had beaten the Socceroos in 2002 to play at South Korea/Japan, but in 2006, under Hiddink, Australia took revenge. And in the 2006 World Cup, it made it to the second round — another miracle.

Hiddink’s latest destination has been Russia, which paid a good deal of money to get him to Moscow. The oil money of tycoons like Roman Abramovich and others had already made its way into Russian clubs, and the national team too wanted to climb up a step.

Eclipsed by neighbouring Ukraine in recent years, Russia has not got through the first round of a major tournament since the Soviet Union came apart, and it did not even play the 2006 World Cup.

Difficult task

The task was again difficult. The objective was to take part in the 2008 Euro, in a qualifying group that included Croatia and the mighty England — which was in the end the team that was eliminated.

Hiddink is the star in a young Russian side without well-known players. “There are players with quite a bit of quality, but they lack strong competition every week,” Hiddink noted.

The Dutchman wants his side to cause a surprise, but not at any cost. “We hope that the team gives a good image, because it likes playing football,” Hiddink said. This is, in fact, the trademark that he has spread out around the world.

Hiddink is also conscious of the fact that picking young players may have implicit problems. “Defensively, every now and then, they forget things that are fixed in the strategies of teams with more experience,” the coach explained.

In fact, he defined his main task since joining Russia as “combating naivety.” But for him even that can be an element for a further miracle.

“(Players) are quite naive. On the one hand it is a weakness, but on the other hand they feel free to play,” Hiddink said. — DPA

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