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Russia boss Hiddink out to draw level with old foe Toshack
Dy Chris Wathan
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ngepress.com
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GUUS HIDDINK will get the chance he's been waiting two decades
for this Wednesday - to get even with old foe John Toshack.
The Russia boss may well have lifted the European Cup, taken sides to
within whiskers of World Cup finals and established himself as one of
the best bosses around.
But 21 years on from first going head-to-head, the Dutch master is in
deficit against a manager who has trotted a very similar career path.
Only twice has one of Hiddink's sides beaten a Toshack team - and one
of those was in the dying stages of Wales' trip to Moscow 12 months ago.
Yet, despite the rivalry there is clearly plenty of respect between two
of the senior men of European management.
"I remember the first time we came up against each other was around 1988
in La Coruna in a summer tournament," recalled Toshack.
"I was with Real Sociedad at the time and we had been invited to play
because we had won the Spanish Cup.
"And Hiddink was there with PSV, who had just won the European Cup by
beating Benfica on penalties.
"And we would cross swords plenty of times in La Liga after that.
"In fact, when you look at it there's a similarity between us in the fact
we both went off to different countries to manage sides and face different
challenges.
"Our paths were similar. I think he worked in Turkey with Fenerbahce just
before I went to Besiktas.
"And, of course, I went back to Madrid just after he was sacked."
Indeed, Toshack was given his second opportunity at the Santiago Bernabeu
only a few days after Hiddink was given his marching orders following
a miserable seven-month spell.
But if La Liga clashes and job jumping might have strained relations,
it certainly doesn't show when you ask either man about their opponent
for this week's World Cup qualifier.
"I know him quite well," said Hiddink. "My teams have played a lot of
games against his, though only at club level before the qualifier last
year."
Hiddink will get the chance to draw level in competitive wins over Toshack
with victory in Cardiff.
"We had a lot of tactical battles in La Liga in the 90s and the games
were always very interesting. He is a very good manager, and I think there
is nothing in football that he does not know."
High praise indeed from a manager who has been riding high in the top-boss
stakes for the past few years.
From defying the odds in steering South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals,
to taking Australia's Socceroos to a long-awaited finals four years later
and then combining the Russian and Chelsea jobs with great success, Hiddink
has been hailed as the best around.
But, while he argues his ability to bring the best out of sides should
never have been doubted, Toshack insists Hiddink needed international
football to re-ignite his career.
"He has been very successful but I remember seeing him in a Basque restaurant
when he left Madrid and he was very down," said Tosh.
"He had been sacked at Madrid and he didn't spend long at Betis. He was
on a bit of a slide but then he went to Korea and it proved a turning
point.
"He went there for a couple of years, away from all the pressure and without
the issue of qualifying because they were host country for the World Cup
and then gave a terrific performance in the tournament
"It put him back into the limelight - and rightly so because his pedigree
is unquestionable.
"He had to bounce back and he did. He has shown his pedigree and he is
a very experienced, very knowledgeable man."
Whereas Hiddink renewed his reputation with success on the international
front, Toshack has admitted success with his home nation is the one last
great challenge that drives him on.
It's partly due to Hiddink's success with the likes of Andrey Arshavin
and Roman Pavlyuchenko, pictured inset, that it will take at least another
campaign for Toshack to realise his dream with Wales.
Indeed, qualifying specialist Hiddink is on course to make it four in
a row for World Cup finals appearance following initial success with his
native Netherlands back in 1998.
"He has got some fantastic players," admitted Toshack. "And it's only
since he's been there that the side have become a force again.
"I went to watch them with Dean Saunders in their first game at Euro 2008
and they were disappointing.
"But then they looked very good against Holland and only came unstuck
against the eventual champions, Spain, in the semi-finals."
Following that impressive showing in Austria and Switzerland, Russia welcomed
Wales and the latest clash between the managers in that 2-1 defeat at
the Luzhniki Stadium, where Pavel Pogrebniak's penalty won it inside the
final 10 minutes.
But Toshack revealed he has since been to see Hiddink to catch up on old
times following the 62-year-old's brief stint at Stamford Bridge. Yet
now the challenge is on to put admiration aside.
And for two men who have shared similar experiences getting to this point,
they both seek wins for very different reasons.
While Hiddink needs three qualifying points to keep the pressure on Germany
at the top of Group Four, Tosh knows his young side is desperate for the
platform into the next campaign that only victory over a major nation
can provide.
"It's a big game for them," said Toshack, still hungry for third place
in the group and the seedings boost that would deliver. "They're still
behind the Germans and they've still got to play each other.
"But we want to really go for it in these remaining games.
"And beating Russia would be a big, big scalp for us."
Walesonline.co.uk,
Sep 6 2009
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