Russia coach Guus Hiddink has ended speculation about his future by committing to a new two-year contract ahead of Wednesday`s friendly international away to Romania.
The 51-year-old, who took charge after Russia failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, will remain as national boss until the 2010 tournament.
"Hiddink signed his contract this evening," a Russia spokesman said late on Monday. "It is now official."
The Dutchman had been linked with England for a second time late last year following the dismissal of Steve McClaren, but instead decided to open new contract talks with the Russian federation. England subsequently appointed Fabio Capello.
While many Russians were reluctant to let a non-Russian coach the national team, Hiddink became a hero after guiding his side to this summer`s Euro 2008 finals -- beating England in the qualifiers, a blow from which his would-be suitors could not recover.
The Russians revealed before that match in October that Hiddink had agreed a new deal. However, it has taken until now for him to actually sign contract.
Hiddink guided South Korea to fourth place at the 2002 World Cup, matching his effort while in charge of his native Netherlands at the 1998 tournament.
He also led Australia into the second round in 2006 in the country`s first appearance at the showpiece in 32 years.
gold russian brides
The Azzurri confirmed their status as being slow starters as they somehow sneaked through into the last eight, despite picking up just one point from their first two games.
After losing 3-0 to Holland and drawing 1-1 with Romania, Italy’s destiny was out of their own hands, however a 2-0 win over France, coupled with a Dutch victory over Romania, saw them progress.
Roberto Donadoni’s men were much improved against Les Bleus, and they will now be hoping that they have started to hit form at just the right time.
Italy have an outstanding knockout record in major tournaments, and indeed have not lost a knockout tie in 90 minutes since the 2-0 semi final defeat to the Soviet Union at Euro 1988.
The Azzurri are renowned for their big game temperament, in stark contract to their opponents Spain, who despite being in better form, are often labelled as big-game bottlers.
Spain On Fire
Luis Aragones’ men are on fire, roaring into the last eight after finishing top of Group D with maximum points. They have scored eight goals in three games, and will go into this match as many people’s favourites to progress to the semi-finals.
Spain have indeed won all seven of their fixtures in 2008, including pre-Euro 2008 warm-up wins against France, U.S.A, Peru, and Italy themselves.
The question now is – will Spain once again flop when it really matters? We have seen this scenario so many times in the past where La Seleccion have made a flying start to a major tournament, only to then lose their nerve once it gets to a big knockout game.
This was the case at the last World Cup, when Spain played some delightful football in the group stages, only to then lose 3-1 to France in the second round.
Spain are certainly in better form than Italy, but they have a dreadful competitive record against their opponents. There is also the small matter of the so-called June 22 curse. Spain have exited three major tournaments on penalties on this exact date in recent history, losing to Belgium at World Cup ’86, England at Euro ’96, and South Korea at World Cup 2002.
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