England hold no fears for Hiddink and his resurgent Russia
squad
Wembley's next visitors vow to attack after boosting morale against
Macedonia, writes Jon Brodkin
Guus Hiddink cannot have altogether fond memories of Wembley,
having been in charge of the Holland team hammered 4-1 there by England
at Euro 96. But the Russia coach talked with a fearlessness which was
echoed by his players as he looked ahead to Wednesday's qualifier at the
revamped stadium.
Russia's 3-0 win at home to Macedonia on Saturday kept them a point ahead
of England and brought their impressive defensive record to one goal conceded
in eight qualifiers. Hiddink spoke after of his respect for England but
emphasised there was no trepidation among his squad.
"England were obviously stronger than Israel," said the Dutchman,
whose team were held 1-1 by Israel in Moscow last year. "Israel didn't
have a single chance. And of course when you think of the friendly match
between England and Germany [last month] you're impressed by the power
of the English. But that doesn't frighten us. In any case the game starts
at 0-0 and I hope the numbers on the board at the end will bring joy to
us alone."
That seems far from inconceivable to his upbeat side, buoyed by victory
against Macedonia. "We're attacking, scoring goals and we can look
forward with optimism to the match with England," said the Lokomotiv
Moscow midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.
The striker Dmitri Sychev acknowledged that England would present a far
tougher test than Macedonia but said Russia, unlike Israel, would set
out to win at Wembley. "The main thing is that we take the game to
them," he said. "If we play our football we'll get a good result."
Hiddink does not intend to abandon his attacking style for the occasion.
"We're not going there just to defend. If we sit back for 90 minutes,
sooner or later they'll punish us," the coach said. "We'll have
to attack but we will have to defend as well. I see it as a high-tempo
game with both sides looking to score."
Russia created plenty of chances at home to Macedonia after going ahead
early through Vasili Berezutski but wastefulness brought a scare midway
through the second half. The goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov was sent off
in conceding a penalty and his replacement, Vyacheslav Malafeev, saved
the spot-kick. Goals in the last six minutes from Andrei Arshavin and
the Sevilla striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov completed the win.
Malafeev, Russia's third-choice keeper, will start against England and
there are fitness doubts about the striker Ivan Saenko and winger Yuri
Zhirkov but some in Russia feel England are vulnerable.
"They lack organisation, the firm hand of the coach which was there
under [Sven-Goran] Eriksson is not in evidence," said the former
Russia midfielder Sergei Semak. "England should be producing much
better results."
The history
England v Hiddink
June 1996 England 4 Holland 1
Euro 96 finals, at Wembley
May 2002 South Korea 1 England 1
Friendly, in Seoqwipo
England v Russia (USSR/CIS)
May 1958 USSR 1 England 1
Friendly, in Moscow
June 1958 England 2 USSR 2
World Cup finals, group stage, in Gothenburg
June 1958 England 0 USSR 1
World Cup group play-off, in Gothenburg
Oct 1958 England 5 USSR 0
Friendly, at Wembley
Dec 1967 England 2 USSR 2
Friendly, at Wembley
June 1968 England 2 USSR 0
European Ch'ship, in Rome
June 1973 USSR 1 England 2
Friendly, in Moscow
June 1984 England 0 USSR 2
Friendly, at Wembley
Mar 1986 USSR 0 England 1
Friendly, at Tblisi
June 1988 England 1 USSR 3
European Ch'ship, in Frankfurt
May 1991 England 3 USSR 1
Friendly, at Wembley
April 1992 CIS 2 England 2
Friendly, in Moscow
P12 W5 D4 L3 For 21 Against 15
,
10 September 2007
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
Click on a photo...
