Slovenia grab vital away goal against Hiddink's side

Published on Monday 16 November 2009 09:05

EVERTON'S Diniyar Bilyaletdinov struck twice to help Russia take a step towards the World Cup finals on Saturday, beating Slovenia 2-1 in their first-leg playoff.

Bilyaletdinov's first goal came in the 40th minute after the midfielder outwitted two Slovenia defenders inside the area and blasted a right-footed shot into the top right corner of the net.

He rolled in his second from six yards after his attempted pass inside the box rebounded off a defender and came back to him.

Slovenia did not present much of an attacking force, hardly troubling Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev until the 87th minute, when substitute Nejc Pecnik headed a valuable away goal for the visitors.

"The result is, of course, we have won, and that is important. But because of this one goal, it is a little bit disappointing," said Russia coach Guus Hiddink.

Bilyaletdinov and Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko both missed chances to make it 3-0 and thus render the second leg a formality.

Meanwhile, Ukraine held Greece to a 0-0 draw in Athens, giving the visitors an edge going into the return leg in Donetsk next week.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said his team was too focused on not giving away any goals, preventing them from being effective in attack.

"The players probably had in their mind to keep (the Ukrainians) from scoring," Rehhagel said. "They couldn't make good combinations, while the Ukrainians moved the ball better."

If Greece miss the World Cup, 71-year-old Rehhagel's eight-year stint in charge of the team is likely to end. "What we have to do (in the return leg) is keep a clean sheet and score on the counterattack," said the manager.

Portugal scraped through their first-leg match 1-0 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Lisbon, with the visitors hitting the woodwork three times.

"It's going to be close. We'll suffer till the final whistle," said Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz.

Portugal were without Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo for Saturday's match due to an ankle injury which will also keep him out of the second leg.

The Portuguese, aiming for their third consecutive World Cup appearance, outplayed Bosnia but they found it hard to convert possession into goals, a problem they encountered during their qualification campaign.

The Portuguese scored 17 times in tens qualifying games. while Bosnia scored 30 during their campaign. Queiroz is hoping that Bosnia, who put most of their effort into defending at Benfica's Stadium of Light, will play more open football at home.

"We'll have to be utterly determined and inspired," said Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson's former No.2 at Manchester United. "We can't just sit back and wait, we have to take control.

"We're going to Bosnia to win."

Coach Miroslav Blazevic, who is trying to lead Bosnia to their first World Cup appearance, described the first-leg result as "satisfactory", although he was disappointed at the near-misses.

Senijad Ibricic headed against the bar just before the interval and in the final minutes Edin Dzeko hit the bar again. Zlatan Muslimovic also hit the post.

"I think we could have, and should have, come away with more than we did," said Blazevic.