Post by viktor on Jun 22, 2008 21:05:22 GMT 7
Coach Guus Hiddink said Russia still had room for improvement after they outclassed Netherlands 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2008.
"The players are still going through a process of improvement," Dutchman Hiddink said after their convincing extra time victory.
"They are young players but it's amazing they have learned the tactics of international football so quickly," he added.
"They are very coachable and very keen and they have the quality."
Hiddink said he was "extremely proud" of their win, especially considering they had only full two days to recover after playing Sweden in their final Group D game on Wednesday.
"We had almost no time to prepare tactically," Hiddink said. "But we were better than our opponents in every area of the game tonight, technically, tactically and physically," he added.
As for criticism of Russia's performance, Hiddink said his players had committed too many unnecessary fouls and could have shown better finishing.
"We didn't defend well against the only weapon the Dutch had which was their free kicks," he said.
"We also found it easy to make the combinations in defence and midfield but were unable to finish the moves off. We had a lot of chances to decide the match earlier."
Russia's semi-final on Thursday in Vienna will be against either world champions Italy or Spain, who meet in the last quarter-final on Sunday in the Austrian capital.
Meanwhile, Netherlands coach Marco van Basten said Russia were worth their victory because they were the better side.
"The Russians deserved to win. They played much better, they created chances. So I can live with that," said the Dutch manager who is now leaving for a career at Ajax Amsterdam.
The Dutch were overwhelmed by the hard-running Russians who scored twice in extra-time to overcome their flagging opponents 3-1 after the game had finished 1-1 in normal time.
"At the start, we had some good moves but, unfortunately, we weren't able to do what was needed," said Van Basten.
"We didn't have the match under control. Russia made it difficult for us. We had physical problems. The players didn't have the conditioning anymore at the end."
The Dutch, who sailed through the group stage with high-scoring wins over Italy and France, had their problems before the match against Russia had even kicked off.
"We were unlucky as Arjen Robben picked up an injury yesterday (Friday) and could not start," said Van Basten, who added that they were not helped by early substitutions.
"We were forced to make three substitutions during the 90 minutes and therefore we had physical problems in extra time."
"Russia really were stronger then and we could only hold the 1-1 draw until 10 minutes from time."
The Dutch started the match as favourites after comfortably winning their three Group C games but they were never allowed to reach the heights they had achieved against Italy and France.
"I have no idea why we didn't start as well as in previous matches but the team looked a bit nervous," said Van Basten.
"We had a lot of problems with (Russia playmaker Andrei) Arshavin and that really kept us out of the match."
Van Basten, in charge for the last time before starting at Ajax on July 1, said they had started the tournament well but that it was just not their day against the Russians.
He added that he felt sorry for goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who had said before the match that he would finish his international career after the tournament.
"Edwin had a great international career and really deserved to end it by winning the final of a tournament like this," said Van Basten of the Manchester United keeper who has won 128 caps.
------------------------------------
it's so great to hear such words
matt, you should change the name of this category to 'follow russia's unbelievable performances'
