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An exciting clash of similar styles

Van Basten’s men have to counter Hiddink’s shrewd tactics

BASEL: The assumption was that whoever faced the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the European Championship would be considered a sacrificial lamb. Russia coach Guus Hiddink has a long track record that he is anything but.

“If a team proves it can play great football you must absolutely not be afraid, you must embrace that,” Hiddink said, reflecting on Russia’s 2-0 win over Sweden on Wednesday.

The main plot of Saturday’s match was supposed to be the Dutch facing off with one of the greatest Dutch coaches — Hiddink.

Team man

Human tragedy struck though, and now all eyes will be on Netherlands defender Khalid Boulahrouz, who lost his prematurely born daughter days ahead of the quarterfinal match. He already told coach Marco van Basten he is available for the match despite the pain.

“You can count on me,” Boulahrouz said.

Van Basten said his team had dealt with the issue and would give full focus to making its second semifinal appearance in as many European tournaments.

“We have one goal and Khalid has said that he is going for it. He has shown his strongest side,” captain and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar said.

If anything, it will further bond the Dutch players. They have already made traditional Dutch bickering a thing of the past and all will be willing to give it their best for the defender.

Good showing

In three games so far, they have proved to be one of the great Oranje sides for the ages. Within one glowing week, it beat World champion Italy 3-0 and dismissed the other World Cup finalist, France, 4-1. And all in a style reminiscent of the halcyon days of the 1970s, when it produced its famed “Clockwork Orange.”

Russia, meanwhile, has already gone through an epic struggle just to get to the match. Spain almost turned the team into a laughing stock when it beat the Russians 4-1. Facing defending champion Greece next, few gave anything for its survival.

Then wily Hiddink showed his cunning. He gave the team a tongue lashing, calling them naive, and accusing them of “schoolboy errors” against Spain.

They may still be the youngest team at the tournament, but Hiddink made them world-wise fast.

The Russians survived with a 1-0 win and finally produced sparkling football in a 2-0 win over Sweden. Some said it had a hint of Dutch class, the ultimate accolade at the championships.

“He’s done great. First he built a new team and now he got through a tough group,” van Basten said.

Hiddink knows all about the Dutch. He led them to the World Cup semifinals in 1998. His global credentials also include leading South Korea to a surprising semifinal place in 2002 and Australia into the second round of the World Cup two years ago — two stunning surprises.

Now his team is one game away from another stunner.

To make the outlook even more lopsided, almost all of the Dutch stars, down to van der Sar, come into the match on more than a week’s rest while Russia still had to slug it out on Wednesday in a do-or-die match.

Enthusiastic fans

What’s worse, the thousands of orange-clad fans have yet to find their match at Euro 2008, outsinging and dancing everyone. It should be no different at St. Jakob Park on Saturday, especially since many Russian fans, apparently having figured on their team getting knocked out early, were packing up and heading home on Thursday.

The Dutch team, however, has a particular weakness, and has rarely combined beauty with success.

And beautiful they are. Some of the nine goals in three games will still be among the prime examples of counter football for years to come. With Real Madrid’s Wesley Sneijder and Hamburger SV’s Rafael van der Vaart, they have the class in midfield to send lightning fast wingers Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie down the flanks. And at the centre of attack, Madrid’s Ruud van Nistelrooy has had a great tournament so far.

Tight defence

Proof of Dutch versatility is in the scorer’s list. Despite nine goals, no player has more than two, making them so much tougher to defend against.

And despite fierce criticism coming into the match, the defence has also hung tight, conceding just one goal. Against the Dutch, Russia is expected to build its attack around Zenit St. Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin, who returned from a two-match suspension to pose a constant threat against Sweden. He set up the move for Russia’s first goal and scored its second in a man-of-the-match performance.

Similar to the Netherlands, Russia plays an attacking brand of football underpinned by solid defence and quick passing.

“We now play a bit Dutch style,” Russia captain Sergei Semak said. — AP

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