Players make me proud - Hiddink

Russia coach Guus Hiddink said his team are a joy to work with after their superb win over Sweden secured a quarter-final against the Netherlands.

The eye-catching 2-0 victory meant that Russia have made the knockout phase of a major tournament for the first time since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

"This is a huge win for a side still under construction, with lots of young players and some experienced," he said.

"It gives me real pleasure to work with them. The youngsters have learnt lots."

606: DEBATE
"I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon a little late, but Russia are a completely different team with Arshavin"
playon69

Dutch-born Hiddink, who took the Netherlands to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals and then South Korea to the 2002 World Cup semi-finals, immediately looked to the next challenge after goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin saw them through.

"We're very proud of what the team have achieved in this tournament," he said. "But that's not enough.

"The next goal are the Dutch. Our problem is we only have two days to recuperate.

"I don't have 20 A-players. Holland used their B-team last night against Romania. Their A-team have had five or six days to recover."

Russia's quarter-final against the Dutch takes place in Basel on Saturday night.

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