| GUUS HIDDINK, who in other circumstances could have been managing England in his native Netherlands last night, posted a reminder of his coaching capabilities as he led Russia to victory over the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in their first away match of the 2008 European Championship qualifiers. A 2-0 win in Skopje extended Hiddink’s unbeaten start in this campaign as first-half goals from Vladimir Bystrov and Andriy Arshavin enabled Russia to finish the night in second place in group E. Hiddink, who led Holland and South Korea to World Cup semi-finals in 1998 and 2002 respectively before managing Australia in last summer’s tournament in Germany, was thought to be among the candidates to succeeded Sven-Göran Eriksson last spring. He made it clear that he was not interested, however, if he was expected to attend an interview. Having opened their campaign with three home matches, in which they drew with Croatia and Israel and beat Estonia 2-0, Russia stepped up a gear last night to make light work of Macedonia. Russia threatened to take the lead when Arshavin squared the ball to Igor Titov, but the captain delayed his shot and allowed Goce Sedloski, the defender, to block. Russia made no mistake in the eighteenth minute, however, as a poor defensive header from Igor Mitreski fell to Bystrov, the Spartak Moscow midfield player, who controlled on his chest before volleying high into the net. Victory was all but assured in the 32nd minute when Arshavin collected a pass from the impressive Diniyar Bilyaletdinov on the edge of the area, skipped a challenge from Mitreski and lifted the ball over Jane Nikolovski, the Macedonia goalkeeper. Macedonia had made their best start to a European Championship campaign, holding England to a goalless draw at Old Trafford last month, but they made little impact last night and home supporters vented their frustration as sporadic attacks were soaked up by a solid Russia back line. |
