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Guus Hiddink's spell in Russian football took them into
the fast lane
The Dutchman took Russia to a new level but after
missing out on the World Cup now might be the right time to leave
By Jonathan Wilson
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Guus Hiddink is leaving Russia as he found
them, out of the World Cup and with their future uncertain, but
the national side made great strides under his tutelage. Photograph:
Yuri Kochetkov / EPA
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Guus Hiddink took the Russia job just after they had failed
to qualify for the World Cup and he walks away from the Russia job just
after they have failed to qualify for a World Cup, but to suggest he has
left them where he found them would be absurd. While his departure, of
course, is tinged by disappointment - and perhaps even a little recrimination
- in his four years in charge he has overseen the country's elevation
to a serious football nation.
Hiddink's contract does not formally expire until 30 June, which complicates
any attempt to lead a side at the World Cup (and he has said he would
not take a World Cup job out of respect to Russia), but he has been linked
with Turkey, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and even a return to South Korea, while
Russia have remained tight-lipped over a possible replacement. Given that
problems financing Hiddink's reported ?6.25m a year are thought to have
contributed to their split, though, it seems likely that Russia will opt
for a domestic coach.
The very fact that Russia's playoff defeat to Slovenia prompted such a
gnashing of teeth, rather than the resigned shrug it would have provoked
pre-Hiddink, is evidence of the advances they made under his leadership.
The first seven major tournaments after the Soviet Union's fragmentation
brought three first-round exits and four failures to qualify.
Hiddink, though, gave them Euro 2008 and the memories not merely of reaching
the semi-final, but of two matches - against Sweden and Holland - in which
they played scintillating football reminiscent of the best Soviet style.
In practical terms, his legacy was to ensure that they go into the qualifiers
for Euro 2012 as one of the top seeds, but the emotional and symbolic
impact was far greater than that: in giving Russian football a modern,
cosmopolitan outlook, he restored its pride.
Given the hype that followed, it is easy to forget that when Hiddink arrived
one columnist described him as "this Dutch farmer", while the
former Russia coach Valery Gazzaev asked how a foreigner could possibly
"understand the complexities of the Russian soul". Whether he
understood them or not, Hiddink removed from them the fear. Players were
encouraged to swear in training and, on the first day of get-togethers,
to joke about each other's club form. Roman Pavlyuchenko was one of a
number of players to speak of how players began to look forward to national
matches rather than seeing them as a bit of a chore.
Euro 2008 and Zenit's Uefa Cup success opened western Europe's eyes to
the potential of Russian players, and since then there has been a steady
drip of their players into western European leagues. Some of them have
been accused of losing their focus on the national side, but the overall
effect of exposure to the highest level of league football must surely
be beneficial (even if making the Russian league the equal of La Liga
or the Premier League is the long-term goal).
And yet for all that Russia, again, will not be at the World Cup. Memories
of throwing away a 2-0 lead in the play-off against Slovenia will haunt
Hiddink and the nation's fans and, quite understandably, raised the first
real criticism of him. To an extent he was undone by a loss of form on
the part of pretty much every centre-forward he could have picked, but
his continued faith in the Sergei Ignashevich-Vasili Berezutsky defensive
partnership was baffling.
Moreover, his reluctance to select players from the Russian champions
Rubin Kazan seemed odd - and awoke all the old gripes about Moscow-centrism
that he seemed to have been done away with - particularly his sparing
use of the holding midfielder Sergei Semak. Presumably Hiddink felt that
at 33 he could not manage two such demanding games in such a short space
of time but the fact remains that in the 106 minutes he played Russia
scored two without reply, and in the 74 he didn't they conceded twice.
Whoever replaces Hiddink, sorting out the centre of defence and finding
a new holding midfielder must be a priority.
Hiddink benefited, of course, from the wave of optimism that swept Russia
in the latter part of the decade. As Vladimir Putin became an increasingly
significant figure on the diplomatic stage, CSKA and Zenit both won the
Uefa Cup, and Russia won the world ice-hockey championship and even the
Eurovision Song Contest. Shortly after Zenit had beaten Rangers in that
2008 Uefa Cup final in Manchester, their manager Dick Advocaat received
a call from Putin, congratulating him on having "written another
chapter in this glorious age of Russian sport".
The question now is how long that will endure, not just post-Hiddink,
but post-boom. Russian GDP dipped in 2009 after years of stellar growth,
and the impact is already being felt in football. FK Moskva have been
forced to withdraw from the league after NorNikel decided it could no
longer afford to fund them, while Krylya Sovetov could follow them out
of existence this week with debts reported to total $80m.
That could force more Russian players abroad and, if the quality of imports
declines, there must be concerns for the coming generation. While top
players may benefit from exposure to life abroad, there must be a domestic
league of sufficient standard for young players to develop to the necessary
standard to compete internationally.
Hiddink inspired great progress in Russian football, but now might be
a good time to leave.
Guardian.co.uk,
16 February 2010
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