|
Russian football team needs homegrown coach - sport minister
| |
|
|
Photo rian.ru
|
The Russian national football team should be trained by
a Russian coach, sports minister Vitaly Mutko said on Wednesday as Guus
Hiddink's long-term future with the side remained unclear.
"I am in favor of Russian-born coaches, people who understand our
way of thinking," Mutko said.
"We should somehow develop from within. To develop a coach in any
type of sport means leaving a legacy. A foreign trainer is only interested
in the national team and will not share his experience with the whole
country," he added.
The statement comes as Hiddink's future as trainer of the Russian national
team remains in doubt after a recent meeting with new Russian Football
Union president Sergei Fursenko in Moscow.
Hiddink's some $8 million a year contract runs out in July.
"Guus has a contract until the summer," Fursenko was quoted
as saying by the Sovetski Sport paper after the meeting. He refused to
comment on whether the 63-year-old trainer would lead Russia's Euro 2012
campaign.
Despite failing to take Russia to this summer's World Cup in South Africa,
Hiddink has hauled the Russian team up to number 13 in the latest FIFA
ratings.
Hiddink took over the Russian team in the summer of 2006 and worked wonders
to transform the fortunes of a side that had become something of a national
joke, taking it to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and making a genuine world
star of diminutive forward Andrei Arshavin. He was hailed as the saviour
of the Russian game and there were calls for him to be granted honorary
citizenship. A number of children were also named after him by enthusiastic
fans.
However, he was criticized throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign
for spending too little time in Russia and relying too heavily on the
players who had served him so well at Euro 2008. Matters came to a head
in a crucial play-off against tiny Slovenia when a lackluster and tired
Russia crashed out after a 2-1 win at home was cancelled out by a 1-0
defeat in Maribor, much to the dismay of the watching Russian political
and business elite.
RIA
Novosti, February 10, 2010
|
|
