Translated material
Psychic attack
Guus Hiddink scares the Spaniards with his calmness
Russia is preparing for its first ever European Championship semi-final. Relaxed and calm. If Guus Hiddink's team had not played against the Spaniards at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium today, having defeated the Russian team 4:1 in the opening match of the European Championship, there would have been cause for concern: there might not have been enough emotions in the third week of the tournament.Guus Hiddink was just as calm and relaxed on the eve of the game. To the hundreds of assembled journalists, as almost always before Euro matches, he reported on the latest successes of Russian football, not forgetting to mention, just in case, Zenit’s victory in the UEFA Cup. Probably so that Dick Advocaat would not be offended. And it was clear from everything: Hiddink himself was pleased and, perhaps, a little surprised by what his team had already achieved at this championship.
This semi-final, by the way, will be the third in his career in tournaments of this level. He lost the first two (with the Netherlands team at the 1998 World Championships and with the South Korean team at the 2002 World Championships). But he recalled only the first with regret yesterday: “That Dutch team was staffed with experienced players, and we were able to move forward. Teams from South Korea and Russia have already achieved success. When you evaluate the team’s achievements, you need to look at where we started.”
But the fans feel restless. There is again a rush around tickets for matches of the Russian national team. While it was possible to get to the Russian grandstand for the quarter-final meeting with Holland without any problems, this time the speculators have their work cut out for them again. For the third day, resellers have been plying the central street of Vienna, Kartner Strasse, trying to find new clients. Ticket prices have already reached the 500 euro mark, and now speculators are waiting for the arrival of new fans from Moscow.
Russian fans have been allocated 6,200 tickets. And, as UEFA distribution manager Wolfgang Eichler noted, this is the standard quota for semi-finalists. The Spaniards, Turks, and Germans received exactly the same amount. If Russia makes it to the finals, it will also be allocated only a fixed quota - 20% of all tickets. And if UEFA had received a request for additional quotas, even through government channels, the European Football Union would not have been able to allocate any more seats in the Ernst Happel Arena.
Guus Hiddink was not bothered by all this fuss about tickets. The head coach of the Russian national team spoke little at all about the upcoming match, shying away from the word “revenge”. Perhaps his psychologist gave him such a recommendation: they say that Hiddink consults one of these specialists by phone before important matches. So yesterday Hiddink only mentioned that in the first match his team tried to play their own football, and also found some kind words for the Spanish national team, saying that he respects this team. At the same time, however, the Dutch coach allowed himself to recall what difficulties the Spaniards had in getting into the semifinals.
Hiddink did not say a word about his own problems. The Dutchman did not even give a hint as to who he would replace the disqualified Denis Kolodin in the center of defense and who would be his joker in the absence of Dmitry Torbinsky, who received a second yellow card. It is also not clear whether Ivan Saenko will be able to take the field, who, having sprained his ankle at the very beginning of the match with the Dutch, continued to play on painkillers. But, apparently, for the first time in this tournament, Vasily Berezutsky will start the match from the first minutes, and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has every chance of returning to the main lineup.
Just like the Russians, the Spaniards are calm. If in training before the quarterfinal match the “red fury” practiced penalties, now it seems that Luis Aragones’ team is going to win in regular time. And its head coach has already spoken in the spirit that he will be able to beat the Russian team for the second time. Aragonez, meanwhile, really has nothing to worry about. The other day he celebrates his anniversary - on July 28 he turns 70 years old. And by this date he expects a gift from his players. He has already prepared it for himself: according to his Spanish colleagues, the coach of their national team has already reached an agreement that in the near future he will lead the Turkish Fenerbahce. “Wow, at that age he will work in the same place where I started,” Hiddink remarked about this. And he hastened to assure that he has great respect for his senior colleague: “If he knows how to survive in Spain, then he deserves respect.”
Today in Vienna, Spain itself will have to survive. And few among the fans of the “red fury” like the calmness of Guus Hiddink. After all, not every one of them has a psychologist with good advice at the ready.