Netherlands 1-3 Russia: Traitor brings down old masters

Published on Saturday 21 June 2008 23:38

Netherlands 1 van Nistelrooy 86 Russia 3 Pavlyuchenko 56, Torbinsky 112, Arshavin 116 After extra time (score after 90mins 1-1)

GUUS Hiddink, in his own words, became a footballing traitor last night as he masterminded the shock extra-time elimination of his hotly favoured compatriots, the latest feat of a remarkable career in international management.

A tournament full of thrilling twists and turns gained its most unlikely victim as Marco van Basten's seemingly relentless orange juggernaut was halted in its tracks by a fluent Russian side that played Netherlands at its own game and bagged a deserved semi-final place for the first time ever as a single nation.

From a technical standpoint, this was perhaps the most eagerly awaited fixture of the tournament, both sides committed to the beautiful game in what was Hiddink's first competitive fixture against his homeland for any of his adopted countries.

Having led South Korea and Australia to their best ever performances – the former to the World Cup semi-final, the latter to the finals themselves – the odds-defying maestro had already exceeded expectations by taking Russia beyond the group phase for the first time in the 16 years, though of course they won the trophy as the Soviet Union in 1988.

In fact, tournament football and Hiddink are a match made in heaven. Five times he has taken teams to major tournaments, and five times he has steered them out of the group stages. That, of course included his own country, semi-finalists at the 1998 World Cup.

It is a remarkable record and one made all the more satisfying for the 61-year-old Hiddink because of the way his teams, invariably underdogs, have always gone about their business. Russia may have started this tournament badly against Spain but the way they responded against Greece and, especially, Sweden had Hiddink purring with delight. Quite why England chose not to pursue him after 2006 instead of settling on the disastrous Steve McClaren remains a mystery.

Hiddink admitted in the build-up to yesterday's clash that he had been "blown away" by the progress of his team, led by quick-thinking playmaker Andrei Arshavin who, following his two-match ban, more than lived up to his star billing when he ripped the ageing Swedes to shreds. Arshavin's eagerly awaited confrontation with Wesley Sneijder was one of several intriguing sub-plots, the Netherlands' high-flying form and the occasion itself presenting a massive challenge for the men in white.

Van Basten resisted the temptation to give any of his "B" team another run-out and returned to his favoured starting 11, the one that carved out those impressive three-goal wins over France and Italy.

An estimated 100,000 orange-clad Dutch fans poured into Basel during the day and on a sweltering evening they filled all four sides of the stadium. The small Russian contingent saw their team start impressively, however, carving out the first two chances. Edwin van der Sar had to be at his most alert to turn away a Yuri Zhirkov freekick and Roman Pavlyuchenko wastefully ballooned a free header over the bar.

Anything but overawed, the Russians did their best to keep possession and stop the Dutch getting into their counter-attacking stride. Not always easy. Only a last-ditch block prevented Sneijder from giving the Netherlands the lead while Orlando Engelaar hammered an angled drive just wide. Russia then had a lucky escape when two Dutch players were a fraction away from getting on the end of Rafael van der Vaart's freekick.

But Hiddink had clearly done his homework by packing midfield and playing, Netherlands-style, on the counter. Back came his players to force Van der Sar into two more vital saves. First the Manchester United keeper stretched to keep out a glorious curler from the lethal Arshavin, then tipped over a vicious Denis Kolodin blockbuster.

The football was sublime, most of it played on the deck. All it needed was a goal which almost came just before halftime when Van der Vaart pounced on an error and saw his shot parried by Igor Akinfeev.

Sixteen months ago, Netherlands beat Russia 4-1 in a friendly but that was in the early days of Hiddink's reign. This time, with three of the Zenit St Petersburg team that overcame Rangers in the UEFA Cup final, it was a much more even affair and Van Basten's response at half-time was to send for Robin van Persie in place of Dirk Kuyt.

Within seconds, the Arsenal man volleyed a difficult chance wide but it was the Russian fans who sensed a goal in the energy-sapping conditions. Khalid Boulahrouz was booked for jumping in recklessly on Arshavin and substituted. The Russian playmaker bent the resultant free kick just beyond the post but in the next move Hiddink's side were in front, Pavlyuchenko sneaking in ahead of Joris Mathijen to turn home Sergei Semak's cross on 54 minutes.

The Netherlands had not been behind before in the tournament and the orange hordes were stunned. Van Basten played his final card by sending on Ibrahim Afellay but there was a sense of desperation as van Persie smashed over a freekick from just outside the area.

Russian substitute Dmitri Torbinskiy then had a great chance to put the game beyond reach when he sliced the ball wide with the goal at his mercy. With just five minutes left of regulation time, he was made to pay. Ruud van Nistelrooy, in classic poacher's style, got his head to Sneijder's angled freekick and sent the second straight quarter-final into extra time, though not before Kolodin was shown a second yellow card, only for the decision to be overruled when the linesman pointed out the ball had already gone out of play.

As their legendary portly coach looked on, a fitter-looking Russia refused to let their heads drop. As they went searching for victory to prevent penalties, Pavlychenko rattled the bar before Torbinskiy sidefooted another simple effort straight at van der Sar.

Then, with the clock ticking, the strong-running Torbinskiy finally had his day with a close-range 113th-minute tap-in after wonderful work down the left by the inexhaustible Arshavin who deserved a goal of his own. He got it three minutes later, ending van Basten's bid to become the first person ever to capture the European Championship as a player (1988) and coach. Next stop for Netherlands: Scotland in the 2010 qualifiers.