The yesterday's Euro-2012 qualifying draw determined
opponents of the Russian national team - Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia,
Armenia and Andorra. The head coach of the Russian national team Guus
Hiddink comments on the results of the draw.
Armenia's head coach Vardan Minasyan, Andorra's
Koldo Alvarez, Ireland's Giovanni Trapattoni, Russia's Guus Hiddink,
Slovakia's Vladimir Weiss and Macedonia's Mirsad Jonuz (L-R) Photo
REUTERS
These teams have no significant achievements to boast but
we should not look down on them: hopefully it became clear to everybody
after the World Cup-2010 qualification play-offs.
"I think that the fate was benevolent to us," commented the
Dutch specialist Guus Hiddink. "Of course it was partly due to the
fact that we got into the first pot."
"We should not forget that Slovakia fought its way through to the
World Cup-2010 and Ireland looked well in the play-off matches against
France. But in general the draw is not bad."
"Russia performed well in the last years and that is why we were
in pot one. And in fact Russia can be named favourite of the group, everybody
would say so."
"But lately we lacked one goal to get to South Africa. And that is
why it is not good to call anybody favourite. It is important not to goof
and to be best practically."
"We must be first. It is optimal for us. But best among the second
also gets to the tournament directly after the qualification and it is
important in this case to have as many points as possible."
"I think the results of the draw do not give us a reason to experiment
with the squad. Recalling the problems we faced in the matches with the
respected Slovenia I conclude that experiments during the qualifiers are
out of the question."
"Otherwise it means that you underestimate the opponents. Tryouts
are possible at the training sessions or in the friendlies but not in
such strenuous games as matches of the European Championship qualification."
"I am a sportsman and not a politician and it is difficult for me
to comment on the decision of UEFA to separate Russian and Georgian teams
in the tournament."
"It is a pity that the teams are being divided due to non-sports
matters. But sometimes it is inevitable. I used to work in South Korea
and know that people there would like to join with the North. Sports can
do a lot for rapprochement of the nations but in some cases it would not
help."
