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Hiddink: Italy Would Have Been Easier
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Photo: hockey.lenta.ru
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Russia manager Guus Hiddink has revealed that he would
have preferred to have played Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2008, rather
than Spain.
Hiddink's men have been the surprise of the tournament, playing the kind
of free-flowing attacking football you would usually associate with the
likes of Brazil or Argentina.
They have roared into the semi-finals of the Euros, and on Thursday will
be one step away from the final when they meet Spain.
The Spanish made it to the semis after defeating Italy 4-2 on penalties
following a 0-0 quarter final draw on Sunday night.
Hiddink however says that he would have preferred to have played Italy
rather than Spain.
"I watched (the Spain-Italy quarterfinal) and you think, I'd really
like the Italians because tactically you can work against them,' said
the Dutch tactician.
'It is a team where lots of people stay in one place behind the ball,
but that leaves space elsewhere where you can play.
"It didn't happen, that's a shame. Spain is a similar team to Russia
- they want to play football.
'But if they go 1-0 up, as we've seen, they drop back and play on the
counterattack.''
Hiddink has come up against Italy in successive World Cups, as his South
Korea team defeated the Azzurri on a golden goal in a hugely controversial
second round match in 2002. In 2006 Hiddink's Australia lost 1-0 to Italy,
also in the second round, with Francesco Totti scoring a hotly-contested
penalty in injury time.
Anthony Sormani
Goal.com,
6/24/2008
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