MOSCOW - Dutchman Guus
Hiddink proved again that he can get results as he enjoyed a winning start at
the helm of Russia's national team in a Euro 2008 warm up match against Latvia.
An injury-time goal Wednesday by Tomsk striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, who also
made his debut performance for the national side on Wednesday, sealed Russia's
1-0 win and boosted morale three weeks ahead of the opening Euro 2008 qualifier
against Croatia.
"Today's match was an important test before the start of the Euro 2008
qualifying campaign," Hiddink said after the friendly match. "And I think we've
passed the test successfully."
Hiddink also expressed his satisfaction with his team's playing style and the
result.
"We looked solid and dominant throughout the match and kept the game under
control. We missed a set of clear chances but managed to scrape out a win
because we believed we're capable of winning up to the very end."
"We still have time to prepare for the match against Croatia. In particular
we will need to decide whether the players who are sidelined with injuries --
Alexei Smertin and Yegor Titov -- can strengthen our line-up."
In the match with Latvia, Hiddink opted against any revolutionary changes,
picking a set of field-tested players for his starting line-up.
Russia looked in command right from the start and created a hatful of scoring
opportunities, but missed them all, lacking a killer instinct in front of goal.
In the second half, Hiddink substituted Zenit Saint Petersburg forward
Alexander Kerzhakov, who had looked unimpressive, for Spartak striker Roman
Pavlyuchenko and he made the Russian attack more aggressive.
The Dutch manager brought on Pogrebnyak with 10 minutes to go to form a duo
of tall forwards, and it payed dividends.
In the third minute of injury time midfielder Andrei Arshavin steered the
ball into Latvia's box and Pogrebnyak fired home from seven metres out to finish
off Pavlyuchenko's header.
Russian Football Union (RFU) boss Vitaly Mutko expressed his satisfaction
with the result and the way the home team had played.
"We got a win, which was vital for our squad, in the first match under our
new manager," Mutko said.
"I'm pleased with the game and the result though we managed to score only in
injury time. This team has a strong spirit and it makes me optimistic."
The 59-year-old Dutch guru, who has enjoyed success with a variety of clubs
and has turned around the fortunes of underachieving national sides, took over
as Russia coach after guiding Australia into the last 16 round of the World Cup
this summer.
"We face a tough challenge -- to improve Russia's FIFA rankings and to
qualify for the Euro 2008 finals," Hiddink said in a recent interview.
"To reach the European championship finals would be a big boost for the
development of football in the country."
"But our main goal is to achieve sustained performance for the Russian
national team in the future," he added. "If we manage to fulfill the task I will
be really satisfied."
