Guus Hiddink achievements. Football player and coach from the Netherlands Guus Hiddink (Guus Hiddink): biography and coaching
Igor RABINER
from Saint-Petersburg
Gus was not allowed into the FIFA Club. Yes, yes, you heard right. In a hotel near St. Isaac's Cathedral, the International Football Federation set up its camp a couple of weeks ago, and part of it has always been empty. There he planned our conversation over a cup of cappuccino he adored, but a strict English-speaking woman from categorically refused to let the famous coach in there. Although there was not a single person there.
Hiddink was angry - after all, in some deeper rooms of the FIFA Club, unknown persons kept passing football world persons who have clearly less merit in the game than the Dutch coach. And he needed little - access to the outside bar. But FIFA paid for these premises, and the owner is a gentleman. And there it doesn’t matter who played what role in the history of football. Though Hiddink, although he wanted to go there, but also failed to do so, the mayor of Sochi. Whose mood clearly improved at the sight of Gus, and a small delegation from Sochi took pictures with him with pleasure.
Anyway, in a good hotel there is always a cozy place for a conversation. In addition, a few minutes later, his wife Elizabeth joined us, who came to St. Petersburg for four days. The waiters were impeccable and Hiddink supported them in Russian: "Very well!"
He reacted with enthusiasm when he paraded in the same “Club FIFA”: “He is here in the FIFA group, which is analyzing and preparing possible changes in the rules. Former rival!" If anyone forgot, it was van Basten led that magical June 2008 evening in Basel when the Russians beat the Oranges in the Euro quarter-finals. Such are the coincidences.
Gus, who worked throughout the tournament, as you already know from his previous interview with "SE", an expert on Fox Sports USA, and I talked about the last tournament and general impressions of being in the country. The master's remarks are all the more important because he remains the only coach in the history of our post-Soviet team who managed to qualify from the group at the World or European Championships - and, moreover, go even further.
June 24. Kazan. Mexico - Russia - 2:1. Stanislav CHERCHESOV (left): emotions on the edge. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"
CHERCHESOV BUILD A COMPETITIVE TEAM
"SE" had a great headline last week - struck me Hiddink with its awareness. - On the day of one of the matches you had on the front page in large print: "Stan, do it like Gus!" I liked it very much!
- It was a match with, and it sounded exactly like this: "Stas, be like Gus!" The fact is that you are the only coach in the history of the Russian national team who left the group with her at big tournaments. But how do you know about this hat?!
We had this paper in our Fox Sports USA studio, and the meaning of the headline was translated for me. Of course, I could now say that I am a KGB agent, or what do you call this special service now - FBS? (Laughs.)
- FSB.
Yes exactly. But everything is much easier!
- Let's talk about the Russian team. How would you rate the performance of the head coach at the tournament? Stanislav Cherchesov?
I see that he is in the process of building a competitive team to participate in such a tournament as the World Cup. It's the most important. On my own experience, with the Korean national team in 2001, I went through the Confederations Cup. And I know for sure that this is a certain point where you can quite reasonably and objectively assess where you are compared to other teams.
Yes, don't you know. At that Confederations Cup, although you won two matches in the group, you did not reach the semi-finals due to the defeat from the French - 0:5. But the next year they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Like me 16 years ago, Cherchesova there is now a year left to build on the lessons learned from this tournament and work on things that need to be improved. Each of the three games held by the Russians is a valuable lesson.
- Do you see progress if you compare the current Russian team with the one that played a year ago at Euro-2016 in France?
This team is more energetic. Yes, this energy does not appear for all 90 minutes, but this is impossible. I liked that in two matches, when your team started to concede in the score and needed to add, it did it. That is, we saw the correct reaction of the team to the unfavorable course of events! And is it important. True, neither Portugal, neither with Mexico equalize Russia failed, however, with the Portuguese the second half was not like the first, and with the Mexicans the team was not very embarrassed even by the removal.
She didn't throw out the white flag.
Although this often happens in such situations. But even ten Russia managed to create scoring chance when struck above the gate. Another thing is that an energetic and confident game should be gradually turned into a standard for the team. So far, she is only visible from time to time.
The Russians celebrate a goal against Mexico. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"
- The first half with Mexico - in terms of activity, pressure, attacking orientation - reminded me of your Russian team at Euro-2008.
Yes. I will say the same about the starting segment of the match with New Zealand. I even timed it in the opening match when Russia I really liked it - the first 12 and a half minutes.
In both cases, the team played extremely compactly, "covering" the opponents at the moment of the loss of the ball and moving around the field in a coordinated and close to each other. I liked it all very much. Now the task Cherchesova- increase the duration of the segments when the team can play such compact football.
- What do you think is the potential of this team in a year? What stage of the World Cup is she able to reach in the best hands?
The main thing is that she should concentrate on the positive moments that we saw at the Confederations Cup. And, in particular, around the character shown after the removal in the match with Mexico. Around the first half in the same game, some fragments of the meeting with . It's good that before the world championship there will be three or four weeks for targeted preparation, which helped us a lot in 2008. The players looked at me with a plea: "When will this all be over?!" But in the end, we entered the tournament perfectly prepared. I hope the same will happen ten years later, and Russia can play hard. Intensity is the main word for today's football.
- In your opinion, is the quarter-final for our team achievable in principle?
- Can you compare the level of the players of your and the current Russian national teams?
I would not like to do this, especially since I cannot be objective in this matter. Of course, I have nostalgia, I really love that wonderful team and its players. In general, comparing players from different times is unfair.
It is important that at that moment the already high-quality players were also very well prepared functionally, and I was proud of the team. But the way the current Russian team played gave hope that in a year, with careful preparation, it could play almost the same.
The problem is that, according to many, current generation Russian collections - the least talented in history.
If you have a good team spirit and a carefully crafted game strategy, this can make up for a very large part of your lack of super skill. We had players who could decide the outcome of an episode of the game with their class.
- Today in the Russian team is not visible.
Oh, Andrei could score a goal himself and create an opportunity for others. This is true. How can you forget the other guys?!
Mistake by Igor Akinfeev (left) in the match against Mexico. Photo by Alexey IVANOV, "SE"
IF IN THE BREAK THE FIELD WAS MORE ABUSEDLY, THE BALL WOULD Bounce TO THE SIDE OF AKINFEEV
- But from your time remained. Given his age and injury history, are you surprised that he is still in the national team and, moreover, in the first roles in it?
I agree, he played very well. Yuri and I know each other very well. Any national team needs young guys 22-23 years old who are knocking on the door. Experienced players can play, but these should support them, creating fair but tough competition for them in the position. This will level up the entire team.
- How can you explain his red card? Was it the result of team shock after the second Mexican goal?
Yuri is not one of those who are easily shocked by something (smiles). I always want to protect him. I don't think it was too much swipe elbow. On the other hand, on the second yellow card he probably pulled, and, in my opinion, Zhirkov recognized the validity of this decision. He shouldn't have done this because he knew he already had a warning. But I can't be neutral when I talk about Yuri because I love him so much! He is very, very gifted.
- Before the start of the tournament, you sent an SMS with words of support to him, and - to the three players who remained in the national team from your time. No more texting?
No, only then. I wished good luck, they thanked me with response messages.
- And what, in your opinion, happened to Akinfeev at the time of the second Mexican goal?
I use a play on words in English. Igor in that episode was too eager (the name of the goalkeeper and this word meaning "impatient" sound very similar. - Note. I.R.), to solve the problem. And it turned out to be difficult.
The Mexicans, being under pressure, just knocked the ball towards the Russian goal. In the language of hockey, we can say that they just "thrown the puck out of the zone." That throw was not a good constructive pass. It just happened!
And what happened next, I am convinced, must be seen not only as a Russian mistake. The guy who kicked the ball was very brave going all the way! Igor went out of the penalty area and misjudged the situation. He tried to get a high-flying ball with his foot, but, I repeat, the short Mexican turned out to be brave, not removing his head. But here's another nuance that I thought about then.
- What is it?
If the field were wetter, the ball would bounce off the lawn at a sharper angle, that is, closer to Akinfeev. Immediately, the rebound turned out to be more vertical, and Igor did not have time to reach it.
- That is, if the field had been watered more abundantly during the break, this mistake could not have happened?
Yes. And this once again shows how important the smallest nuances are in football.
– Could Akinfeev also show a red card?
Could. But because of the goal, the referees forgot about that shot, fortunately for him.
- The main goalkeeper of the Russian national team for the last 13 years has been grossly mistaken in two of the last three big tournaments - the 2014 World Cup and the 2017 KK. Do you think it's time to look for a new number one?
I remember that both in my presence and for a long time afterwards, he did a very good job in his place. Every football player has the right to make a mistake, but if the goalkeeper makes it, it becomes fatal. From what I see, Igor, the captain of the national team, feels a very large measure of responsibility for the team.
Now I'm not close enough to her to draw the right conclusions about what you asked. But I repeat: he also has the right to oversight. Do not forget that your great goalkeeper Lev Yashin played in the national team until 40 years old, and ended his career even later! And this means that goalkeepers can play for a very long time.
- Moreover, he had an unsuccessful World Cup in 1962, after which he was mercilessly booed by fans in Moscow, and he almost ended his career. I went fishing for three or four months ...
Threw himself into the water and caught fish with his goalkeeper's hands? (Laughs.)
- Maybe. That's how he came to his senses and the next year he won the Golden Ball.
And a monument to him, which I remember very well, stands near the Dynamo stadium! It is impossible for any footballer, even the most remarkable, not to make mistakes and keep his highest level in absolutely every match. And even now, when the number of matches, especially in the leading leagues of the world, reaches 55-60 per season, even more so.
Alexander GOLOVIN. Photo by Alexey IVANOV, "SE"
GOLOVINA DID NOT KNOW BEFORE THE CONFEDERATION CUP. I LIKED HIM
- So that's the trouble, that Russian football players do not play in these leagues. And there are much fewer matches, and the pace, and the level of resistance in them is much lower. In your opinion, does this affect the class of the national team players?
This is a real topic of concern. In the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, the intensity of the games is high. Look at the Chileans, the players like and who play in these leagues. I'm not even talking about individual skill. And that they, getting the ball, instantly speed up the game and make it more intense. Because they are used to playing like this in their leagues.
- And Vidal also jumps so that the rest remain to his waist.
And it's very nice to look at. This is exactly what is the essence of modern football. In general, Russian football lacks just this intensity. In the transition from defense to attack, in an effort to ensure that in one or another zone - the middle of the field, closer to other people's gates - you turned out to be more than your opponents. The maximum of vertical, diagonal gears is what we should strive for.
What pleased me in what I saw with the Russian team is that the players are able to show a more intense game than they are used to. But so far this happens in shorter segments than their strongest opponents.
Do you think that any of Russian players able to play high level in the top leagues? For example, Golovin?
If he manages to cope with the common problem for Russian football that we just talked about, then yes. It's not about technical ability. In addition, they are naturally very magnificent. No coach will teach you this.
It's a pity that Dzagoev now injured. But both he and he have the technical skills to play in any league in the world. However, they need to be able to handle the other level of intensity that they have.
- Did you know Golovin before the Confederations Cup?
To be honest, no. I liked him. The guy's game shows that he is aware of what he is capable of, and it's nice to look at it. And when he gets used to more intensity, he will become even more productive.
- Would you advise him to leave right now, a year before the World Cup? After all, in the top leagues there is a risk that he will sit on the bench, while in CSKA he will have a guaranteed place in the squad. And - the rate is more than important.
It's none of my business. I follow the Russian championship too little to make such conclusions. But he is 21 years old - the age when you have to constantly play. And a year later - the home World Cup. There is a danger that if he goes into big club, then will not enter the field regularly. For the next season, this is a rather difficult choice. Does Golovin have a specific proposal?
- There are regular talks - primarily from a number of agents - that Arsenal are interested in him.
Agents, agents, agents... They love to talk! I know that a number of serious scouts came to the tournament. But I won't go into more detail on this subject. (laughs).
- And from Smolov they expected exactly what he showed, or more?
It was interesting to look at him. Because everyone counted on it, which means that serious pressure was put on him. In my opinion, it did not crush him. He was active. But in big matches, it was precisely the intensity and rigidity of the actions of the defenders that he faced and which are lacking in the Russian championship.
At the same time, he had some very good solo passes, penetrating into someone else's box, shots and passes. He hit the post beautifully against Mexico. He is fast and capable of acceleration with the ball, he has a great shot, he is able to "kill". It is very important that the midfield delivers the ball to him in the right areas and at the right moments. In my opinion, Fedor should not move too much to the flanks in search of the ball and too deep to the center of the field. He needs to be and open in the penalty area. It's very good that Smolov got such invaluable experience as playing against other tough guys.
For the foul of José FONTI (right), the referee could well have awarded a penalty in the semi-final against Chile. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"
MAYBE THE VIDEO ASSISTANTS WENT TO THE TOILET IN THE PENALTY EPISODE IN THE SEMI-FINAL?
- How do you like the new judging system with video assistants?
It was used for the first time in official tournaments of national teams. In my opinion, this system has worked in favor of the fairness of judicial decisions. At the same time, it needs some improvements. Some decisions, made or not, even after consulting with video assistants, raised doubts.
This is especially true of the incident with a fight during a match with Mexico. This was not just a boom-boom-boom skirmish during which it was impossible to see anything. Everything went beyond a certain limit.
Then many accused the referee of not giving any red cards. But, in my opinion, in such a bustle it is difficult or impossible to place all the blame on the arbitrator. Because when a mass brawl starts, tracking down the initiators from the field is extremely difficult. You are too close for that. Then the help of video assistants is really needed. Their evaluation of the episode should be more active. As in the case of individual rough attacks by a player when there is no ball near and close. I think that the decision-making time with the help of VAR should also be reduced.
However, this is nothing more than a side note. I would like to emphasize once again that, in general, I consider the decision to use video assistants to be the right one. Enough refereeing mistakes were neutralized thanks to VAR. Some retrogrades say: "No, it's great when arbitrators have the right to make mistakes. They are people!" Yes, of course, they have such a right. But when it regularly flouts justice, the system must change.
Sometimes I hear: "That's the charm of the game, that the referee can make a mistake." This is bullshit! And I hope that after the introduction of the new system, we will gradually leave behind such points of view. They are the past.
- Doesn't it seem strange to you that under the new system it was possible to avoid a penalty kick in an obvious episode of the semi-final match Portugal - Chile?
Yes, when he fouled. In such a situation, you can blame the Italian referee ( Gianluca Rocky. - Note. I.R.), which usually sees more and more sharply. I have seen his work in Serie A many times, and I like it. But in this case, VAR, in my opinion, should have behaved more insistently. Of course, the final decision is up to the chief referee, but the video assistants had to say: "In our opinion, this is a penalty."
In the end, the result of the match was in favor of the one affected by that decision. But it could have turned out the other way around, and then it would have turned out that the error would have affected the result. And the Chileans would have the right to say: "Why do we need VAR then?"
That's why I say that since the best teams will be represented at the world championship next year, the referees, including the videos, must be the best. And there is no need to think about them being neutral and not representing the countries participating in the championship. The main thing is qualification.
- Do you have any idea why that penalty wasn't awarded?
Perhaps the video assistants at that moment went to the toilet. Or for a minute went out into the air to smoke a cigarette. Even if the arbitrator does not ask the VAR for their opinion, but they see what happened, their duty is to report their vision to the arbitrator and ask him to review the episode and make the final decision. I don't know exactly how things like this happen, but that's how it is in my understanding.
Fedor SMOLOV in the game with Mexico. Photo by Alexander FEDOROV, "SE"
AFTER THE PUSH, SMOLOV DID NOT FALL, BUT JUMPED
- In Russia, too, many believe that of the four controversial episodes with penalties in favor of the hosts - one each against New Zealand and Portugal and two against Mexico - 11-meter should have been assigned.
I remember that Smolova With Mexico slightly pushed! There, in my opinion, the problem was that Smalley jumped a little. When you are pushed in the back, you fall down instead of flying up. Yes, they touched him. But it seemed that the fall was, let's say, a little more colorful than the violation.
I admit that this is what confused the judges. The moment was not unambiguous in either direction, I would call it controversial. I think that in such situations we must respect the decisions of the referees.
- At least we watched the episode with Smolov. With Zhirkov - no.
There, his right leg was slightly hurt. Some referees in such cases believe that the player puts his foot on purpose so that it is hurt. Gets hit. But this episode was also close to a penalty kick. Again, it was not an unequivocal penalty, but there were certain grounds for a penalty kick.
- One way or another, in both cases the score was 0:0, and the missed penalties did not affect the course of the match, since Russia opened the score anyway. Now, if they were ignored at 1:0, 1:1 or 1:2 ...
Yes. But, one way or another, I am convinced that the appearance of video assistants greatly facilitates the work of referee teams.
- Do you remember the episode with the fall of Bukharov at the end of the match with the Portuguese?
I can't say that this episode was right in front of my eyes. But too big to even fall! (Laughs.) This is a joke, of course. But I don't have an accurate assessment of the episode.
- But did you expect more loyal refereeing in relation to the hosts? Moreover, you had such an experience - in Korea-2002.
First, the Confederations Cup is not a world championship. And secondly, I think that home refereeing should not be. The arbitrators must be neutral.
IN THE DANGER OF A STORM, OUR STUDIO ON THE NEVA WAS EVACUATED IN TWO-THREE MINUTES
- Let's return to the issue of hospitality, which FIFA did not please you with. In general, is everything in order with him at the Confederations Cup?
No problems at all! The people are very friendly and positive. And, what is very important, everyone does their job at a high level. The same security services supervise everything perfectly and perform their own duties from and to, but at the same time they behave in the highest degree of culture. And this is important, because, on the one hand, the main thing is to ensure security, but on the other hand, you should not do it in an incorrect form. But at KK-2017, this is not even close.
In our previous conversation, I already told you that before the opening match, after the search, the whole group of people involved in security in that compartment asked me to joint photo and it was wonderful. There were no more such stories, but it still stuck in my memory. Nice!
- Did it work well?
Very. Fox Sports USA filmed a beautiful outdoor studio with the Neva in the background. And they took care of us. At some point, black clouds suddenly gathered sharply, and there was a danger of a thunderstorm - with thunder and lightning. Apparently, the forecast was disappointing, and security guards immediately ran to us: "You need to urgently return to the hotel!" And within two or three minutes we were provided with cars to transport not only ourselves, but also all the equipment to a safe place.
- I have no doubt that the cultural program you have with Elizabeth, people who are interested in everything in the world, stood out for glory.
Yes, just yesterday we had an interesting tour of the city, and the guide not only showed us St. Petersburg, but also told us a lot of details unknown to us. And not only about him, but, for example, about the murder of the royal family by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg. After the opening of the KGB archives during the Yeltsin era, the terrible details of the crime were revealed - after all, this execution, judging by its details, can be called ritual.
We have always been very interested in Russian history, rich and deep. And at the end of the tour we went to the Hermitage for an hour and a half. I am happy that life in football has given me the opportunity to remove the blinders from my eyes and get to know so many wonderful countries and their people. I thought about it more than once during the tour, and in general during these weeks in St. Petersburg. The same goes for the kitchen. On days when there are no matches, we dine in traditional Russian restaurants and have great fun.
- Did you like the tournament from the organizational point of view?
No questions! Maybe I can't fully judge everything, because I spent the entire tournament in St. Petersburg. It's a fact that the Confederations Cup had great stadiums. Heard that there were some problems with one lawn.
- Where you actually are.
Yes. As far as I know, there have been no such issues in other cities. But, after all, this is the Confederations Cup, not the World Cup. There is a year left before the main tournament, and the current one is held just in order to try everything and learn from it. Today the game is getting faster and more "vertical". And for this you need slightly wet fields with short-cut grass. They don't have to be like meadows. But with the attendance of the tournament, in my opinion, everything was quite good. It seems to me that Kazan has distinguished itself for the better from this point of view.
- Yes, in terms of occupancy, it was in first place among all cities.
In general, I liked the stadium there, the stands are located close to the field. But here, of course, it was also about the matches that were held in a particular city. In Kazan, the sign has always been excellent, including the game with the participation of the Russian team.
- Interestingly, the most attended match before the final was the game between Portugal and New Zealand - more than 56,000.
Didn't know it. This once again emphasizes the importance for the public of the presence of big stars on the field - such as. 56 is great! Yes, most often the stadiums were not filled to capacity, but again, let's not forget that we are talking about the Confederations Cup, and not about the World Cup. I had a similar experience in Korea in 2001 and it was exactly the same.
In my opinion, attendance there was even lower. At that time, football in Korea was not considered a very big spectacle for its public, it needed promotion. But there were no problems at the championship itself, and I am sure that the same will happen in Russia.
- Do you have the feeling that Russia is almost ready to host the World Cup?
Yes, sure. Your organizers will certainly appreciate what needs to be improved and will do so. But in general, everything is OK. And the stadiums - in the first place. I can’t rate hotels and other infrastructure in different cities, because I was in only one.
It is important that I did not hear from anyone at all a single bad word about the fact that there were some negative manifestations at the Confederations Cup like racism, violence and something like that. Neither at the level of official information, nor at the level of oral stories and whispers. Nothing! I won't admire it. And I will argue that this is normal. The way it should be.
- the other day he came to Moscow and said that he asked him to help at the 2018 World Cup. If this is true, in your opinion, how can the great Argentinean help us?
Oh, I don't even know. What I am sure of exactly - not in terms of hospitality, since people in Russia will receive guests with all their hearts, I do not doubt it for a second. Maybe Maradona can convince the world, a large part of which listens to him, that Russia is worth seeing, even if you have to fly very far.
- And now about 7 thousand Chilean fans have already flown to the tournament!
So much?! I have no doubt that they have gained an amazing experience.
- True, in one of the first days there was a bad story that was widely covered in the media - a rogue taxi driver "warmed up" a Chilean journalist for a thousand dollars. But the police caught him, and he returned the money.
These things need to be monitored very carefully. When such stories come up, it is not good for the country, but the main thing is that they were accepted effective measures. By the way, I have never heard of this story., - proof of the correctness of the training system for young football players in this country. Let's go back a decade and a half.
Germany And Holland are always in a state of some competition. At that time, we had an advantage in the quality of our players thanks to a very good system of youth football education. From 6 to 19 years old, they didn’t teach the game better, probably nowhere. IN Holland much more focused on technical training than on an athletic one. The Germans, in contrast, have always been physically stronger, but technique and coordination prevailed in the long run.
Then there were changes. Holland moved a little towards functional training, Germany- technical. And strongly. With the help of the federation, the Germans launched a new nationwide state program children's football and it became a whole philosophy, strategy. The whole country was divided into 8 or 9 regional centers, in which the federation recruited very good children's coaches. Each region conducted the most powerful scouting, finding all the capable boys. They began systematic work on a weekly basis under a single program, and now it is bearing fruit. What this second German team did at the Confederations Cup is the full result of this strategy.
- Is it a surprise for you?
No. This is a lesson for many countries. Including for Russia and its football union.
Hiddink Gus. Honored Coach of Russia.
Pupil of the amateur club "Varsseveld" Varsseveld, Holland.
Clubs: De Graafschap Doetinchem, Holland (1967 - 1970, 1971 - 1977, 1981 - 1982), PSV Eindhoven Eindhoven, Holland (1970 - 1971), NEC Nijmegen, Holland (1977 - 1978, 1979 - 1980, 1 981 ), Washington Diplomats, USA (1978), San Jose Earthsquakes, USA (1980).
Assistant head coach of the clubs "De Grafsap" Doetinchem, Holland (1981 - 1983), PSV "Eindhoven" Eindhoven, Holland (1983 - 1987).
Head coach of clubs PSV Eindhoven, Holland (1987 - 1990, 2000 - 2006), Fenerbahce Istanbul, Turkey (1990 - 1991), Valencia Valencia, Spain (1991 - 1994), Real Madrid, Spain ( 1998 - 1999), Betis Sevilla, Spain (1999 - 2000), Chelsea London, England (2009), Anji Makhachkala (2012 - 2013).
Head coach of the Netherlands (1995 - 1998, 2014 - ...), South Korea (2000 - 2002), Australia (2005 - 2006), Russia (2006 - 2010), Turkey (2010 - 2011).
Achievements as a coach:
Dutch Champion1986/87, 1987/88, 1988/89, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06;
Dutch Cup winner1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 2004/05;
Winner of the Dutch Supercup2003;
Winner of the European Champions Cup1988;
Winner of the Intercontinental Cup1998;
Winner of the FA Cup2009;
Fourth place at the World Championships 1998 (Netherlands team), 2002 (South Korea team), semi-finalist of the European Championship 2008 (Russian team).
YOURSELF GUS!
The Russian national team will be headed by one of the most famous, respected and successful coaches of modern football. Few specialists can be put on a par with him. Hiddink brought each team to a new, better level. How did he succeed and how did he achieve such respect among coaches, journalists, fans, players?
ABOUT TRAVELERS
“We Dutch live in a very small country. But we have great ideas. Hence our passion for travel and for spreading ideas around the world. We don't want to be a gray mouse." This is how a journalist from the Dutch newspaper De Telegraf explained the triumph of the Dutch coaching school: at the World Championships in Germany, the Netherlands will be represented by four coaches at once: Marco Van Basten (Netherlands team), Dick Advocaat (South Korea team), Leo Beenhakker (Trinidad and Tobago team) and Gus Hiddink (Australian team).
But about a hundred more Dutch people are scattered around the world, coaching teams of different status, with different budgets, with players of different nationalities and mentalities...
The most famous of them: Louis Van Gaal, who excited the whole world first with Ajax, then with Barcelona; Frank Rijkaard, who created a great team that has every chance this season to both win the championship in Spain and become the best in Europe; Ronald Koeman, who went through the most difficult group in the Champions League with Benfica and reached the quarter-finals with it, are just the most famous of the Dutch foreign coaches. But none of them has achieved (at least so far) such respect as Hiddink.
How did he achieve it? In different ways.
HOW TO GO TO FOOTBALL WITH MARADONA
Hiddink, like no one else, knows how to relieve stress from the players. When the Australian team came to Uruguay for the first match, there was an incredible stir in both countries.
In Uruguay, the press simply lashed out at the Australians. Hiddink, upon arrival, said: "I am very happy to bring my team to the country that won the World Cup first." This simple phrase disarmed the Uruguayan press, and the tension subsided.
During the training camp of the Australians in Buenos Aires, Diego Maradona called Hiddink to wish him good luck and invite him to the Libertadores Cup match in the evening of the same day. Gus replied that, they say, with pleasure, but he should be with the team.
Hiddink did not achieve much success in his playing career, starting at the amateur Varseveld and continuing it at the professional De Graafschape. But he managed to become the most popular football player of this club, having received the nickname Superbur. His departure to PSV Eindhoven caused an immediate reaction from the fans, who organized a fundraising campaign for the return of their favorite player. Hiddink returned and led the team to the top Dutch division.
Already in the evening, Hiddink was sitting at the match, but ... with the whole team in full force! Maradona called the entire Australian team there. This could not but affect the attitude of the players towards Gus.
LIBERAL
Hiddink knows how to set up a team for decisive games. After the first play-off in Uruguay, where the Australians lost 0-1, the team flew home on Monday morning. Before decisive match there were two days left.
You are all free until Tuesday afternoon,” Hiddink announced.
Freedom and rest eventually helped the players to tune in to the meeting. Australia won 1-0 in regular time and were more confident in the penalty shoot-out.
The most difficult thing before the second leg with Uruguay was to tune in as best as possible, recalls Hiddink. - Sometimes the players are too given to the fight on the field - so much so that they forget their task. This should not be. This is the whole point - to find a certain balance so that the player gives his best on the field and does not forget to do what the coach told him.
Surprisingly, Hiddink is gaining respect from the players very quickly. "It's like Gus was the link between the team and success," says Australian captain Mark Viduka, who has never competed at the World Cup. - He became exactly the leader that we lacked. He is a tactical genius. Everything he does has a purpose. And the players are very comfortable with that.”
But Hiddink managed the Australian national team while in Eindhoven, where at the same time he managed to train PSV ...
FOLLOWER OF MICHELS
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Guus Hiddink - coach |
“All Dutch coaches are in one way or another followers of the great Rinus Michels ( Main coach the Dutch national team and Ajax in the 70s). It is from him that they take most of their ideas, says Johan Cruyff. Michels never taught me how to control the ball. But he knew how to get the players to play team football."
But the current head coach of Tottenham, Martin Jol, recalls Michels: “He is both a friend and a boss for us. When Rinus talked to the players at the hotel, he looked like a typical Dutchman - he drank beer with us, yelled songs. Everyone loved him."
The British newspaper The Guardian describes the Dutch coaching school in this way: “Their model is teaching professional ethics and team play, as well as a love of attacking football. This is what is most suitable for those countries where the football structure is not perfect.
BUILDER
After the 2004 European Championship, PSV lost its entire attacking line. Matei Kežman and Arjen Robben were sold to Chelsea, Dennis Rommedal went to Charlton. It seemed that the team did not shine in the coming season. However, PSV won the national championship and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, where Milan narrowly missed.
Our budget is the smallest of all the teams that have reached the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, - Hiddink said then. - So the defeat in the semi-final cannot be called a failure.
After a super-successful 2004/05 season, PSV lost almost all of its midfield: van Bommel went to Barcelona, Vogel to Milan, and Park Ji-soon to Manchester United. Once again, PSV solves its problems with brilliance. The result of the team is reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the championship in Holland!
This shows that Hiddink is able to build a team almost from scratch and in a short time.
HOW TO TEACH KOREANS TO PLAY FOOTBALL?
The South Korean team made a splash at the 2002 World Cup. Then they talked a lot about the fact that the judges helped the Koreans with the blessing of FIFA, that the Portuguese, Italians and Spaniards humiliated by this team had too many problems ... But no one questioned the role in the “Korean miracle” of Guus Hiddink.
We've always had good players, - said the veteran of the national team Hong Myung Bo. But we didn't know how to win. Now we do everything differently - first of all, we treat the game differently.
At first it was like this: I go into the locker room after a lost match and look at the guys. They sit with an indifferent expression on their faces. I go after the victory - the same picture. No difference, - recalls Hiddink. - I thought I mistook the door. I wanted them to be annoyed, angry after defeat and happy after victory. Therefore, after successful matches, I introduced it into the habit of arranging a holiday - with champagne, beer, a big cake ...
Hiddink made a revolution in the minds of Koreans. First of all, he broke the stereotype that the main task of the national team is just to perform better than Japan.
I had to carry them all over the world. Previously, they prepared for the World Cup through games with Malaysia and Singapore and won by three or four goals. They are accustomed to performing in their small stadiums in front of an audience of 2,000. I showed them how football is played all over the world.
Hiddink's main problem was to force the Koreans to act tough - after all, in martial arts they were inferior to almost everyone:
Sometimes I approached them in training and provoked them in some way. And no one answered. Five minutes later I go up to them again and say: do you like that I provoke you? If I provoke you, then you should respond to me in the same way. So I taught them to play as hard as European teams do.
PLAYS BY YOUR RULES
All this does not mean at all that with the arrival of Hiddink in the Russian national team, we will definitely be successful. But it is foolish to deny that just a dialogue with such a person will be useful both for our players and coaches, and for our football leaders.
Now the Russian team will live by the rules of Hiddink. He is not one who obeys others:
I'm on the team to win. I can give in, but I'll do it my way. I don't come to follow anyone's instructions.
"GRANDPA IS TO BE HELD IN EVERYTHING!"
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Two December evenings, Guus Hiddink and I sat at a cafe table on the 10th floor of the Ararat-Hyatt Moscow hotel. Outside the window, nothing spoke of the upcoming holidays - plus temperature, no snowflakes. The Dutchman shrugged his shoulders in surprise: "When we flew to Moscow now, Elizabeth hoped to see huge snowdrifts. Where are they?"
We were not talking about football, about which, over the past year, everything seems to have been said and discussed. The fuss of goals and offsides was left behind, and I wanted to talk with the Dutchman about something completely different. Hiddink - after all, he opened our team's eyes not only and not so much on how to play football. How to relate to life and believe in your star - that's what he explained to both the players and the fans. That is, the whole country. Bronze Euro-2008 was a lesson for everyone who is convinced that he has a "ceiling" above which you can not jump. The Russian team, in which no one believed even less than a year ago, proved the opposite. And, I have no doubt, after that, thousands of people said to themselves: "But we, too, can do what we never dreamed of."
So I decided on the eve new year holidays talk with Hiddink, as they say, for life. I admit, I expected a lot from this conversation - but the best coach of Russia in 2008 exceeded even these expectations.
CURIOSITY INSTALLED BY GRANDPA
In Western Europe, Christmas is celebrated on a much larger scale than the New Year, while in Russia it is the opposite. What is more important for you and your family?
Christmas and New Year for me they are inseparable. This is the time of my favorite unhurried conversations with family and friends, summing up the results of the year, thinking about what needs to be done. Sport highest achievements not always useful - both physically and morally. Achieving your goals, you stop noticing the world around you, you become selfish. Therefore, it is good when there are people who sometimes “wake you up”. Before the New Year, there is a happy opportunity to see these people more often and hear them better.
Now, like everything last years, again go to the New Year in Africa?
Yes, this time to Uganda and Tanzania. However, now - not only with Elizabeth, but also with my two younger brothers Karel and Arnold, as well as their wives. I have traveled a lot around the world, and we thought it would be great to show the brothers and their families something very different. They will leave Europe for the first time in their lives, and you should see with what excitement they expect this journey. I get great pleasure from watching how they look forward to it. As they call, they worry: "What vaccinations should we do, what things should we take with us?" No wonder: more than 5 - 10 hours from home by car, they almost did not leave anywhere. In the summer, however, they flew to Austria for the European Championship, visited our team - and became its fans. Then I said: "Now let's go further."
And why were the two younger brothers invited? There are five of them in total.
I have already invited others to other places - in particular, to Korea. So many people at once in one such trip - still a bit too much.
You are always drawn to the exotic. Go to wild Africa to have a rest, to work - in Korea, Australia, Russia, which are unusual for a Western European. Where does this spirit of the traveler come from?
I really love being in new situations and places. So that people from the traditionally leading football countries they asked: "Why did you go there? Nothing can be achieved there!" On the contrary, it spurs me on. For me, the motivation is curiosity. To go to an unfamiliar region, to discover a new culture, to see how people live and work, to make possible what is considered impossible... I prefer to do and regret than not to do and regret. At the same time, I have never been disappointed that I went somewhere. Although difficulties arise, you experience resistance. But getting over it is another thing I love.
And where did it all come from... As a child, I lived in a small place and always wanted to see and learn something else. Seeing this, my grandfather said: "Don't go to school tomorrow. You and I will go somewhere. To hunt - or we'll think of something else." I was looking forward to this with great impatience, for me such walks with my grandfather were the discovery of the whole world. My current trips to different countries are essentially the same, only on a much larger scale.
Did your parents know about your activities with your grandfather?
The father knew, but did not say or do anything to neutralize them. But he was the director of the school where I studied.
OVER TWO DOZEN SANTA FROSTS
Have you ever acted as Site-Klaus?
No. In the Netherlands, in addition to Christmas, there is also a holiday on December 5 - also with the participation of Santa Claus, only a little different, typically Dutch. It's rather children's holiday, whereas the usual Christmas is more grown-up. But neither one nor the other Santa Claus was ever.
In fact, I dressed up only once. The Netherlands holds an annual carnival. Once my friends persuaded me to participate in it, and I put on the mask of a completely bald man like Fantômas. Now many young people wear such a "hairstyle", but that was a long time ago. In my native area, I knew everyone and everyone. I sat in a cafe, walked around the streets, no one recognized me, and I myself was silent, like a fish, because otherwise they would have figured me out. It was very funny how my good friends in the cafe asked each other: "Who is this? Who is this?" So they didn't "split". This was my only reincarnation experience, and I really liked it.
This year, without any reincarnation, you have become Santa Claus for all of Russia. Because no one dreamed of third place at Euro.
This is true. Even now it seems like a dream, although it happened already six months ago. But to perceive yourself as Santa Claus or Santa Claus is too great an honor. I just tried to create conditions within the team and around it that would help it show its best qualities. But the coach is always dependent, albeit not completely, on the players and other members of the team. We can achieve something only together. Therefore, if you already call me Santa Claus, then I will correct you: there were many Santa Clauses in the team. More than two dozen.
Therefore, when in Austria at a farewell dinner Vitaly Mutko set out to give you a medal first, did you say: "First - the captain and other players"?
Where, by the way, Santa Claus Hiddink keeps it?
In our new house in Amsterdam, which we have been building for a year and a half and completed not so long ago.
WROTE THE WORD "PLEASE" IN HIS DAILY BOOK
You have already spoken about the role of the players. In each interview, you also emphasize the great importance for the national team of your assistants Alexander Borodyuk and Igor Korneev. What would you wish them in 2009?
I do not just hope, but I am sure that they will continue to be of great benefit to the team. I have been working with them for more than two years, and we develop each other. I always tried to learn from people living in the country where I currently work. They tell me stories from their football career and everyday life, and I wind these stories on my head and take them into account in my work. Plus, they develop themselves - and I am convinced that they will not stop on this path.
When I came here and first saw Alex (Borodyuk. - Approx. I.R.), he, to be honest, was somewhat pessimistic. "No, Gus, it's impossible, it won't work here," he said more than once. And he often counted on ... how does this Russian word sound ... Avosh?
I'm sorry, what?
Wait, I wrote it down in my diary.
Here Hiddink, having flipped through several pages of the diary (he had acquired the habit of keeping a diary back in the 80s, from the beginning of his coaching career), showed me one of them. There, the Cyrillic alphabet was large-scaled - "PLEASE"!
I confess that for a few seconds I was speechless. And Gus began to explain to Elizabeth, who periodically joined our conversation, the essence of this untranslatable word:
Imagine: you are walking along the runway of an airfield and you see a plane. He is old, one wing hangs not quite at the same angle as the second. The pilot is slightly drunk, everything shakes and buzzes during takeoff, as if the plane is a hundred years old. It is then that the passengers with a heavy sigh say: "Maybe we will fly."
Your correspondent asked Hiddink:
Why would you write such words?
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I must know them. This is important for me, because any tradition, any word of the country where you find yourself, can play some role in your work. Because such words say something about the spirit of people.
By the way, Alex is completely different now. He has his own opinion on every issue, fights for it, thinks, seething with energy. And I really like it.
I also like the fact that Igor (Korneev. - Approx. I.R.) in recent years has finally turned from a player into a coach. When we started working, he still thought in many ways as a football player, but he wanted to grow and develop. They wise people. From Sasha I heard many stories and anecdotes about Russian life. What I really like in Russia is that people willingly talk about themselves, their habits and do not miss the opportunity to laugh at themselves. This is a very good quality.
SEEING A BLACK CAT, I WILL NOT CHANGE THE WAY
Christmas is a religious holiday, New Year is a secular one. Can you call yourself a believer?
No. I believe in human responsibility and strength.
So you don't see Christmas as a religious holiday?
Were you originally non-religious or did it come over the years?
Initially. Our family has always respected the right of people to believe, but did not accept their forced, artificial planting in the lives of other people. The institution of the church has done a lot, both positive and negative. In my mind to be a good man and to do good, to be religious is not at all necessary.
Do you go to church occasionally?
When I was working in Spain, we sometimes came to away matches two days before the game. And in the morning, when I had a couple of free hours, I went to the temples in Zaragoza, Bilbao, Seville and other cities and admired them as architectural masterpieces. In Russia, I have not yet been to churches, but outwardly some of them are of stunning beauty.
Do you believe in omens?
No. Many gamblers are superstitious, some of them don't even wash their underwear after winning. And if the winning streak lasts for many weeks, then his wife has a hard time (laughs). But if you, the coach, think the same way, then you become vulnerable, because you don’t believe in yourself and your team, but in something else.
If a black cat crosses the road in front of you or your car before the game...
I love it!
That is, do not turn around and choose another path?
In no case!
"IF YOU WIN ITALY, YOU WILL NOT SERVE IN THE ARMY!"
In Korea, you have come across many amazing traditions. Can you talk about it?
It's almost military discipline. To such an extent that it is not the Koreans who control time, but time controls them. Once we had a morning workout. You can work with Koreans for two or three hours, they will not say a word, they will not complain, because for them everything that the coach says is the law. And so the class ends at 12.15, and my local assistants run up to me in horror. "What's happened?" - I ask. "So after all, we have lunch in fifteen minutes, and the players still need to take a shower" - "So what? Let's move lunch to one in the afternoon" - "But it's also impossible! It's written in the schedule - 12.30!" They were in a real panic, and I had to make a lot of efforts to get them out of this state.
And the top management, apparently, categorically forbade the same assistants from smoking in my presence. At first, when they saw me, they feverishly tried to hide cigarettes and lighters. I told them: "Yes, smoke as much as you want!" They didn’t believe for a long time, they were afraid that I was luring them into a trap, so that later I could bring them to clean water and severely punish them (laughs).
At that moment, Igor Korneev, who participated in part of the conversation, asked: "Gus, tell us how you freed the Korean national team players from the army!"
All citizens of Korea, including football players, must pass, it seems, three years of military service, Hiddink immediately began. - There are no exceptions. Players serve on a common basis - which means that their football careers are broken. At 20, going three years without football is a disaster.
Shortly after the 2002 World Cup in Korea, elections were to be held. And after the first victory over Poland, politicians began to spin around the team, who wanted to get into the rays of glory. And when we beat the Portuguese, the real excitement began. I can’t say that it helped the team a lot, but at the home World Cup it was impossible to close it completely. And then I decided to try to turn it to our advantage. As a whole team, and each player.
How?
When we left the group, I turned to the politicians: "Do you want to benefit the team? Then propose to the country's top leaders: if we defeat Italy, let all 23 players of the national team be permanently exempt from military service!"
I was almost certain that nothing would come of this venture. But the day before the match, right during training, my mobile phone rang. Actually, I never pick up the phone during work, but then something made me answer - albeit with the intention of stopping the conversation after the very first phrases. And this is what I heard: "This is the secretary of the president of the country. You can tell the players: if the team beats the Italians, then none of them will serve in the army." I stopped training and conveyed these words to the players.
How did they react?
You should have seen their faces! And to hear some kind of friendly groan, which at that moment they issued! Everyone gathered in a circle, hugged each other by the shoulders and talked about something for several minutes. I stood about ten meters from the players. And I felt that for the sake of this goal they are ready to move mountains. The next day, Italy was beaten.
Did the authorities keep their promise?
How did you even come up with this idea?
I was concerned about the future career of the players. These are living people! And I thought: "You can play great at the World Cup, and then everything will end for them. Almost a whole generation of football players will come to naught, and with it the development of football in the country." You can't just think about the result. Today you can win or lose, but you must see far ahead, and then the results will definitely come.
But how did you know about all these nuances with the army?
As before the trip to Moscow, Elizabeth and I read a lot about the country where we were going to go.
At this moment, Korneev again joined the conversation: “Imagine, even when he arrived in Russia, Gus knew who Pavlik Morozov was!”
After all that I've heard, I'm not surprised anymore. And asked Hiddink:
For the Russian national team at Euro, you didn’t want to find the same motivation as the Koreans, strength?
No, because that was an exceptional situation. Motivation must be present within a person, while this one came from outside. Material things - cash bonuses, a car, a house - are an external motivation and are capable of pushing some people at some stage. But it won't last long. The real motivation is internal: a football player, like a representative of any other profession, must love what he does. A great athlete and creator becomes the one for whom everything comes from the heart, and not from thoughts about the bonus. Above this, we must admit, we (here Hiddink clearly means the Russian team. - Approx. IR) still have to work.
Although a lot depends on the society in which a person plays football. I remember one Fenerbahce player where I used to work. He was an ordinary football player, and for his level he had a very good salary. One day he came to me and asked: "Could you ask the board of directors to raise my salary?" I was dumbfounded: "But you have it already so high, you should be happy with it!" And I heard: "Mr. Hiddink, you understand, this is not only for me. Having become a professional football player, I have to feed another 30 - 40 people who are around. You know how many relatives I have who live very poorly!" I understand this motivation too.
As far as I know, you are well acquainted with perhaps the most "bad guy" in the history of football - Diego Maradona.
I was in Buenos Aires, the Australian team and I were preparing for the 2006 World Cup play-off against Uruguay. And he worked in the Boca Juniors system. We were sitting in a hotel with a friend from Argentina, who helped me organize a meeting there, and suddenly he held out his mobile: "Someone wants to talk to you." I thought that a journalist was calling, because there was a lot of press around the team at that time, and pushed the phone away. But a friend insisted, and I heard in Spanish: "Mister! Mister! It's Diego!" There are many different Diegos in the world, and at first I thought that someone was fooling me. But the friend nodded: this is the real Maradona. We talked, he said that he respects my work very much.
Since when?
Don't know. Under my leadership, the Dutch national team played at the World Cup 98 with Argentina, that match came out wonderful and, perhaps, Diego liked. He probably saw Korea as well. And then he invited me to the match "Boca Juniors" - "River Plate". There are many derbies in the world - Milan - Inter, Real - Atlético, CSKA - Spartak. But the number one derby is Boca vs River. Half a day before the start of the game, the stadium is already full. The roar is such that you can go crazy!
Maradona has a small open box at the Boki stadium, where he invited me. We had a very good conversation and every second was under the gun of many cameras. We stay in touch even now, albeit not very often. But I know for sure: if I go to Argentina, I will be received there with all the warmth.
How do you feel about the fact that the enfant terrible of world football has become the head coach of the Argentina national team?
Diego is a guy from the street who has been through both good and bad. But he always found the strength to return. Because he is a fighter. I know the circumstances of life in countries where poverty is all around and football is everything. And I feel great sympathy for people who, having gone through very difficult times, become an example for millions of other people who are now very ill. They look and think: this man has survived - and got out! Fight, and you too will succeed!
Would you like to organize a friendly match between Russia and Argentina?
I would be very happy about it. Some time ago, this was already discussed, but the date that was free with us was already taken by the Argentines. Of course, it would be great if a team led by Maradona and with Messi in the squad played against us.
I DON'T DRINK, I ONLY DRINK
In Russia, did any traditions strike you the same way as Korean ones?
Compared to Korea, Russian society does not have strict principles that would be very different from Western European ones. I never experienced the shock when I exclaimed: “Lord, how to get used to this!” But here they love to give gifts. They hand out bottles with some unusual drinks, treat them to branded food ... The hospitality of the Russian people has amazed me more than once. There is another typical feature - when you are at a table in a company, everyone wants to make not just a toast, but a short speech. And he barely had time to finish one, and everyone drank, as the other begins. Toasts are made very often, and you need to say to yourself: "Be careful!"
Have you ever drunk a lot of vodka?
Never. Because I don't drink, I just sip. Before Russia, I never tried vodka at all, and in principle I am not a fan of alcohol. Sometimes I drink a glass of red wine - and that's enough. And when I'm in the company, I don't feel obliged to drink like everyone else. The right of the individual is to say "no". I don't want to feel sick the next morning, or for anyone else to feel that way because of me.
Gifts to you in a life handed over different. For example, a 20-meter Hyundai limousine.
Well, 20 meters is an exaggeration. But long, long, with a TV, a bar - whatever you want! I received this present after the 2002 World Cup. In Japan and Korea, heads of large companies drive such cars. But that's not my style.
Refused?
No, smart people explained that in Asia, those who give such gifts cannot be said no. This is an insult to them, no matter how you explain the refusal. As a result, this limousine was transported by sea from Ulsan, a city in southern Korea, to Rotterdam Bay. And already there I asked the national Hyundai dealer in Holland if it was possible to change this limousine for a jeep of the same brand. Which is what was done.
When you played in the US in the 70s and crossed from Washington DC to San Jose, a similar limousine was sent to the California airport for you. They say you reacted to this like this: "In Holland they would think that I was a pimp."
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- (Laughs) In those days, a huge car in Holland meant just that. There were four-cylinder cars in use. And in America, on the contrary, there was a cult of huge cars, with 12 cylinders. If you find yourself in Cuba now, you will be convinced of this: many people there still drive hefty American cars of the 50s and 60s with proudly upturned "noses" on which some kind of bird or animal is depicted. I had such a car in California. San Francisco is a hilly city, and when I climbed the next hill, I could not see anything ahead. The hood was on! Because of this, you could get into an accident. But I liked it because it was an unusual feeling.
You also brought white boots from the USA - the first in Holland.
For which, playing in the NEC, he was subjected to merciless criticism after unsuccessful matches. Everyone was criticized only for the game, and I was also reminded of the white boots. But I didn’t care, because these boots were like gloves - they fit the foot so perfectly. In the US, I just fell in love with them.
Were they also a symbol of inner freedom for you?
No, everything is easier. When I played for the Washington Diplomats, the team played in all white - t-shirts, shorts, socks and boots. Just imagine how beautiful it is! So I will not rush out with beautiful slogans and I admit: for me it was not a symbol of freedom, but simply part of a very beautiful shape. Somewhere, by the way, I should keep them, I did not throw them away and did not give them to anyone.
Survived in Turkey, Spain, Korea, USA... What distinguishes Russia from all these countries?
In Russia, they treat their culture with extreme care and cherish it. I know that some Russians criticize themselves for the loss of some values. It is believed that because of computers and the Internet, a new generation, for example, does not want to play the piano, violin, and other musical instruments. And yet we have seen more than once: in so many families, children do something outside of school - or music, or something else from the field of art, or sports. We were pleasantly surprised that parents do so much for the cultural and sports education of children.
And one more thing in Russia seemed to me similar to Spain. Many musicians, politicians and people from other fields are passionate about football. In the Pyrenees, no one can ask - everyone is a fan of one or another team. There is something similar here. Not without reason, when we beat Holland, there was a holiday all over the country, from Moscow to Vladivostok. Then I looked documentary about that night, it was something amazing. I felt the significance of the victory, and when the whole team met with President Medvedev.
What exactly did you feel?
At first I thought that the meeting would be limited to formal 20 minutes with telephoto lenses and under camera flashes. But then the press was asked to leave - and the informal part began. We took off our jackets and talked. What I liked was the sense of equality that came from the president. Everyone understood the person of what rank they were talking to, but he himself did not make it clear that he was above us. The players accepted these rules of the game without ties and jackets, loosened up, and everything went on for quite some time.
TOO IMpatient FOR CLARINET
Let's get back to music lessons, which you mentioned in relation to Russian children. Your brother Hans is a jazz musician. Were you taught to play musical instruments as a child?
Yes, at the initiative of his parents, he learned to play the clarinet. But I didn't have the patience. WITH soccer ball it was much more interesting! Here, by the way, there is also an instructive moment. It is necessary to make learning music for a child a game! Do not engage in tough instruction, do not force them to learn a boring theory, but come up with a method so that the child will fall in love with this instrument!
Here is a direct analogy with children's football. The children need to be offered exercises, thanks to which they discover something for themselves. Children should not be forced to do anything too much, as this will alienate them. If you are a stupid instructor, then you force you to cram - A, B, C. If you are a smart teacher, the child begins to love what you teach. And this is the most important thing. And in adult football, in my opinion, the game should always remain a game. The one that these guys once fell in love with is not at all like hard work.
They say you like to sing?
Yes, and I have a karaoke system. The first time I got acquainted with this thing was in Korea, and after the success at the World Championships, we all sang like birds as a team. Not good birds - bad, voiceless - but they sang. I can't say that I sing. I love to sing - so it will be more true.
I heard that you like to play "My Way" by Frank Sinatra the most.
It's too simple, don't you think?
Before the match with Finland, you met with the famous pianist Denis Matsuev...
Yes, he came to the hotel, we drank a cup of coffee. And then we organized everything so that he could be at the stadium with photographers, standing outside the goal. I said: "Matsu (as Hiddink in his style called the famous pianist - Approx. I.R.), you will like it!" I asked him: "Tell me after the match what you saw. It's very a big difference- sit high in the stands or very close to the players. "He was shocked, delighted. He described in colors what was happening in the penalty area at corners ...
Matsu, it turned out, plays hockey. I advised him to be careful with his hands. In response, he said that once he even broke his finger. Denis knows where I live in Amsterdam. The famous conductor Valery Gergiev also called me with words of support before the game with the Finns... We will definitely meet with him in the summer.
You have always been a fan of rock music - Pink Floyd, Dire Straits. Now, apparently, fell in love with the classics?
I can't say that I love very complex classical music. For me to like it, it must have power, energy. I also love jazz. But once I happened to see how Gergiev works. He was conducting a famous Dutch orchestra, and a day or two before the performance I got to a rehearsal. There he was in work clothes, cursing. And he demanded perfection from the musicians in the same way that we, coaches, from the players. This desire to extract the best from the team was very similar to a purely sporting situation. And it made a big impression on me.
And what kind of music did you listen to after the victory over Holland, when you were left in your room alone?
I didn't listen to music. After the match, and then after meeting with friends and family, I like to sit for several hours on the balcony of my room in complete silence. At such moments I like to light a cigar, take a glass of wine and look at the mountains, at the stars, at the moon. Fragments of recent matches are scrolling in my head at this moment. So it was after Sweden, and after Holland.
THE STUDENTS WANGED A KNIFE AT ME
After finishing your playing career and starting coaching, you worked simultaneously as a physical education teacher at a school for difficult and mentally retarded teenagers for 12 years.
When you play football, and at a serious level, you break away from the ordinary world and start living a life, I would say, exclusive. I always remind the players of this - and that they must feel their responsibility.
True, I myself, especially when I was playing for De Graafschap, had a slightly different situation. Living in my town and communicating every day with those who have known me since childhood, I never for a day lost contact with ordinary people who have to spend all their time in the struggle for existence. It made me live in reality and not be carried away. And when I started working at this school ... It helped me a lot.
Each of my students went through difficult circumstances, poverty, and often crime. To be able to give them some perspective in life was great, albeit very difficult. And it was no less difficult to get them on your side. If you succeed, it helps a lot in later life, including in the career of a football coach.
What were the most difficult episodes you had there?
Some guys were over-emotional, others kept everything to themselves and were very shy. Some carried knives with them, which they took out when they felt some kind of injustice towards themselves. They could threaten with a knife right in the classroom.
And to my classmates, and to me - when they decided that I was too harsh on them. In these cases, I acted according to the main principle of judo. It consists in the fact that when some force is directed against you, you should not oppose yours to it, but turn the opponent's force in his direction. In this case, the danger of an attack will come to naught.
Is it true that once a student punctured the tires of your car, moreover ... at your request?
Is it true. The guy took out a knife, blushed, he was shaking: "I am now ... I am now ... I will cut your tires now!" The situation was dangerous for the other guys, and I said: "Then what are you doing here? Go out the door, walk 200 meters - and you will see my car. Go!" And he went.
I counted on the fact that - while he was running these 200 meters - he would calm down. Firstly, because the attention of adolescents tends to be distracted, and secondly, because he will have the opportunity to at least think a little and evaluate what he is going to do. I said to myself: "Okay, I'd rather he puncture the tires of my car than hurt one of my classmates." After all, tires are nothing more than rubber.
He punctured the tires - but returned already calmed down. He repeated: "Sorry ... Sorry ..." I let him back into the classroom and said: "Sit down, think about what you did. Maybe you will learn to control yourself." After this episode, it was already possible to talk to him.
Did you ever communicate with the then students afterwards?
Imagine with the same guy! He had already finished school, he was 21 years old, and he was hired. Once, when I was sitting at home, the doorbell rang out of the blue. "Mister, I wanted to come and have a drink with you." It was nice. Sometimes even now I see those guys - after all, they live in the same area where my parents do ... now it’s only my father. They have a normal life, a normal job - maybe not some very high-paying one, but it doesn't matter. More importantly, they live their lives and are happy.
Does your charitable foundation still exist in Korea?
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Yes, and it is flourishing. Every year we open one or two artificial fields either for the disabled, or for the mentally retarded, or for children from poor families, orphans, and so on. Fund employees work there all the time, and I come once or twice a year.
Are you going to establish a similar fund in Russia?
I am always open to such ideas. But I can't do this alone. We need someone's help, first of all - the authorities.
MONEY IN MILK CANS
I read an amazing story about you. How PSV bought you from your native De Graafschap, but after the season in Eindhoven, De Graafschap fans collected 40 thousand guilders to return you - despite the fact that the club did not have money for this.
This is true. De Graafschap was a poor club. Its leaders wanted to bring me back because the goal was to reach the top flight. But there was no money to redeem me. Our area is farming. And the fans did just that. Empty milk cans were placed around the perimeter of the stadium, as well as in several busy places in the city. And everyone who wanted to participate in the payment of the PSV transfer fee had to throw 10 guilders into the can - there was such a blue bill. And they got the right amount.
I often tell the players that football is for the people on the street and that we must not forget that. And I always remember this story.
How did you feel when the money was raised?
The feeling was ambivalent. On the one hand, it's amazing to feel so needed, needed. But what a responsibility! Poor people paid their hard-earned money for me. And when I played badly, they met me in the street and exclaimed: "Give me back my ten guilders."
Therefore, I pumped myself up all the time: "You must show the maximum!" And the next year we went to the big leagues. You can imagine how happy that brought me.
25 CUPS OF COFFEE A DAY
Once you loved to ride with the breeze on your Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Are you doing it in your native land to this day?
Sometimes. But for this, the asphalt must be dry. I don’t rush at great speed, but I just enjoy it. Sometimes I take off my helmet, which is not allowed by the rules, to enjoy the unique roar of the motorcycle. It's great to ride along the sea or through the forest. For a long time, however, this did not happen, because I spent a lot of time in Russia. The last time I started my Harleys was three or four months ago. But I want to and will do it. As well as riding a bike, which I manage to do a little more often.
Did you recover in this way after Euro?
Yes I prefer leisure. I put on jeans, ride a motorcycle and a bicycle, play tennis.
All Russia knows about your passion for cappuccino. When did it start?
In Spain. There, however, not cappuccino, but a special kind of coffee - cortado. A small cup with a few drops of milk. And in "Valencia" I drank it all the time, and in "Real" and "Betis". Could drink 20-25 cups a day.
Isn't this amount of coffee unhealthy?
Every year and a half I do a complete medical examination. There are no problems. Really, Elizabeth? (Here Hiddink's life partner nodded affirmatively. - Approx. I.R.) In fairness, I note that now I drink only a couple of cups of cappuccino a day.
At what age did you start smoking cigars?
Recently. About two years ago. One cigar per evening gives a feeling of peace and relaxation. Please note that I am not a heavy smoker. For me, it's just a form of relaxation.
Are you indifferent to cigarettes?
Now yes. When he was a player, he also did not smoke or drink at all. But in the last six months playing career I liked smoking a cigarette after the game. When I started exercising, I started doing it more often. In Holland they like to make roll-ups. I did not escape this hobby.
And then he underwent a serious operation on the intestines. I took cigarettes with me to the hospital, thinking that after the operation I would immediately start smoking. But I didn't even have that desire. Not because I wanted to quit, but, apparently, because too much anesthesia was introduced into the body. And the body said: I do not want nicotine. Since then, no cigarettes.
I CAN'T BEAR CYNISM
Have you had moments in your life that could break you as a person?
You should always follow what your heart tells you. What I do - both in professional and personal life.
I don’t ask about personal, but when did you have such a choice in your professional life?
After the 2002 World Cup, I received offers that involved a lot of money. But if in my choice I was guided only by them, then after one or two years of work it would be just right to finish my coaching career. By accepting such offers, you neglect both the people around you and your profession.
Can you name the country?
Are you able to understand Zico, who went to work in Uzbekistan? And Rivaldo, who went there to play?
Zico went to Uzbekistan? Did not know. People have the right to make the decisions they see fit, and I don't want to judge them. Many called me crazy myself when I accepted offers from Korea, Australia and Russia. So let these "many" make assessments. And I, not knowing the circumstances, will not.
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With age and experience, knowing life, some people lose faith in people. You just seem to be getting more and more. Why?
Although I am not the youngest person and coach, I categorically cannot understand cynical people. Sometimes you have to force yourself to go back 30, 40 years - and remember what you were then. And what did you think about the people who taught and raised you. If they were cynics who didn't believe in anything themselves, they couldn't teach you anything good.
Young people have the energy and ambition to achieve great things in life. It was so a hundred years ago and it will be so in a hundred years. And I have no right to kill these qualities through cynicism. On the contrary, my duty is to produce human ambitions and hopes.
When was the last time you cried?
Recently, when my mother died. We had seen each other a week earlier and I invited her to our new home. But she didn't have time...
She lived a wonderful life, 88 years old. And then one day she fell, ended up in a coma - and never regained consciousness. Of course, it was very hard for me, because an entire era had ended. But it was even harder to watch the sadness of his father, who is 92. He understood what was happening. But at first I believed that my mother would have an operation, and she would return to life. And at some point I realized that it could not be returned. And when I saw the two of them... Mom in a coma and dad holding her hand... It was a very, very emotional moment.
PEOPLE GET MORE Humble IN DAYS OF CRISES
In 2002, you sensationally reached the semi-finals of the World Cup with the Korean team - and decided to leave. In 2008, no less sensationally reached the semi-finals of the European Championship with the Russian team - and decided to stay. What is the difference?
I also liked Korea. But the football infrastructure there was very good. Clubs organized by large companies - Samsung, Hyundai and others - were well built in all respects. And I did not see for myself work there, with the help of which it would be possible to raise everything one more step.
And for Russia, the Euro-2008 bronze medal is only the beginning of football renewal. Infrastructure, search and development of talents, education of coaches. Much more needs to be done in this country to use its full potential. I was happy to meet many wonderful people whose support inspires me to continue working in Russia.
Can you imagine that our team will become the 2010 World Champion?
I understand perfectly well: I have no right to answer that it is impossible. However, we must be realistic. This is me about what is now in the courtyard of December 2008. First you need to qualify in our difficult group. To do this, we must work very seriously and get the support of everyone in the country who is related to football. And then we'll think about the next goal. And remember: nothing is impossible.
What could you wish for 2009 to our newspaper and... to yourself?
Yourself? I am no longer young - and I hope that, as I grow older, I will maintain a healthy body and spirit. of the same - healthy body and spirit - I wish everyone, including our team. I can guarantee that she will give game all, what does she have. It is not in my power to always guarantee the result, but the spirit that we have lately has appeared will definitely remain. And we hope to make it even stronger.
As for SE, I wish that your newspaper continues to work with the same sense of responsibility, with the same dedication and devotion to its work, which I have seen since the beginning of our communication. I'm sure it will. I am open to criticism and, moreover, I consider it necessary. If this criticism is fair and positive, it must be expressed regardless of faces. We, in turn, will study it and improve. Because no one should ever think that he has achieved everything. Not a coach, not a football player, not a journalist - I repeat, no one. And next year, as in any other, each of us will have to learn something.
The whole world, including Russia, was covered by the financial crisis. Do you think it will change us a lot?
There is a lot of talk about it now. Well, in times of crisis, people become more modest and creative. If your mindset is positive, if you are full of energy, ready to work properly and do not whine from melancholy and pessimism, then you are not afraid of a crisis. It will only make you stronger.
"I AM GOOD WHERE I AM!"
"Sport Express" ,
01.12.2012
Anji head coach Guus Hiddink spoke about why he began to think about ending his career, shared his vacation plans and remembered almost all of his eminent wards.
| FIRST | OLYMPUS | UNOFFICIAL | DATE | MATCH | FIELD |
| 1 | 16.08.2006 | RUSSIA - LATVIA - 1:0 | d | ||
| 2 | 06.09.2006 | RUSSIA - CROATIA - 0:0 | d | ||
| 3 | 07.10.2006 | RUSSIA - ISRAEL - 1:1 | d | ||
| 4 | 11.10.2006 | RUSSIA - ESTONIA - 2:0 | d | ||
| 5 | 15.11.2006 | MACEDONIA - RUSSIA - 0:2 | G | ||
| 6 | 07.02.2007 | HOLLAND - RUSSIA - 4:1 | G | ||
| 7 | 24.03.2007 | ESTONIA - RUSSIA - 0:2 | G | ||
| 8 | 02.06.2007 | RUSSIA - ANDORRA - 4:0 | d | ||
| 9 | 06.06.2007 | CROATIA - RUSSIA - 0:0 | G | ||
| 10 | 22.08.2007 | RUSSIA - POLAND - 2:2 | d | ||
| 11 | 08.08.2007 | RUSSIA - MACEDONIA - 3:0 | d | ||
| 12 | 12.09.2007 | ENGLAND - RUSSIA - 3:0 | G | ||
| 13 | 17.10.2007 | RUSSIA - ENGLAND - 2:1 | d | ||
| 14 | 17.11.2007 | ISRAEL - RUSSIA - 2:1 | G | ||
| 15 | 21.11.2007 | ANDORRA - RUSSIA - 0:1 | G | ||
| 16 | 26.03.2008 | ROMANIA - RUSSIA - 3:0 | G | ||
| 17 | 23.05.2008 | RUSSIA - KAZAKHSTAN - 6:0 | d | ||
| 18 | 28.05.2008 | SERBIA - RUSSIA - 1:2 | n | ||
| 19 | 04.06.2008 | LITHUANIA - RUSSIA - 1:4 | n | ||
| 20 | 10.06.2008 | SPAIN - RUSSIA - 4:1 | n | ||
| 21 | 14.06.2008 | GREECE - RUSSIA - 0:1 | n | ||
| 22 | 18.06.2008 | SWEDEN - RUSSIA - 0:2 | n | ||
| 23 | 21.06.2008 | HOLLAND - RUSSIA - 1:3 | n | ||
| 24 | 26.06.2008 | SPAIN - RUSSIA - 3:0 | n | ||
| 25 | 20.08.2008 | RUSSIA - HOLLAND - 1:1 | d | ||
| 26 | 10.09.2008 | RUSSIA - WALES - 2:1 | d | ||
| 27 | 11.10.2008 | GERMANY - RUSSIA - 2:1 | G | ||
| 28 | 15.10.2008 | RUSSIA - FINLAND - 3:0 | d | ||
| 29 | 28 03 2009 | RUSSIA - AZERBAIJAN - 2:0 | d | ||
| 30 | 01 04 2009 | LIECHTENSTEIN - RUSSIA - 0:1 | G | ||
| 31 | 10 06 2009 | FINLAND - RUSSIA - 0:3 | G | ||
| 32 | 12 08 2009 | RUSSIA - ARGENTINA - 2:3 | d | ||
| 33 | 05 09 2009 | RUSSIA - LIECHTENSTEIN - 3:0 | d | ||
| 34 | 09 09 2009 | WALES - RUSSIA - 1:3 | G | ||
| 35 | 10 10 2009 | RUSSIA - GERMANY - 0:1 | d | ||
| 36 | 14 10 2009 | AZERBAIJAN - RUSSIA - 1:1 | G | ||
| 37 | 14 11 2009 | RUSSIA - SLOVENIA - 2:1 | d | ||
| 38 | 18 11 2009 | SLOVENIA - RUSSIA - 1:0 | G | ||
| 39 | 03.03.2010 | HUNGARY - RUSSIA - 1:1 | G | ||
| 39 | |||||
| +22 =7 10 |
Guus Hiddink is a Dutch coach and football player who coached the national teams of Russia, the Netherlands, Turkey, Australia, and South Korea. Gus was born on November 8, 1946 in the Dutch city of Warsseveld in a large family of two teachers Gerrit and Jo, in which five more sons were brought up: Wim, Hans, Rene, Arnold and Karel. The boy from childhood became interested in football, while he managed to help his parents with household chores. Gus learned to milk a cow and handle horses.
In his youth, he began his football career at the local club Varseveld, where Hiddink played as a midfielder. After school, he entered the Central Institute of Sports Mentors in the city of Overveen, from which he graduated with honors in 1966.
Football
Hiddink began his sports biography as a professional footballer. In 1967, Hus signed an agreement with football team Dutinchem club "De Graafschap", while remaining the coach of the youth team of a special school for children lagging behind in development. Gus worked as a school teacher until 1984. Soon the midfielder was entrusted with the duties of an assistant mentor to the main team.
In 1969, the club from Doetinham won the second league tournament and received a place in the first division. After ten years at De Graafschap, Gus became a player in the North American football league"Washington Diplomats" and "San Jose Earthquakes", the footballer also played for the Nijmegen club NEK. In 1981 he returned to De Graafschap for two years. Achievements of Guus Hiddink as a midfielder - 500 matches and 80 goals scored over 15 years of career.
coaching career
Hiddink officially began his coaching career in 1981 at Doetinchem. In 1984, he moved to PSV Eindhoven, where he was promoted to head coach in 1987. Led by Hiddink, the team became the champion of the Netherlands three times and the winner of the Dutch Cup three times. In 1988 the club won the European Cup. In 1990, Gus received an invitation to coaching from the Istanbul club Fenerbahce, and a year later he became the head coach of the Spanish Valencia.
In 1995, Hiddink returned to his homeland and headed the national team. Under the leadership of the head coach, the team finished fourth at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. From the same year, the coach led Real Madrid, which immediately won the Intercontinental Cup. But the president of the club pursued his own interests and lobbied certain players, which went against the policy of Hiddink.
Long disputes forced the coach to move to Betis a year later, and leave Spain a year later. Leading the South Korean national team, Gus led the team to fourth place in the 2002 World Cup, which was the biggest achievement for the national team of all time.
In 2002, Hiddink returned to the Netherlands and took over the PSV team for four years. Under Guus Hiddink, the club's players became the first in the national tournament three times, won the Cup and the Dutch Supercup. Working in Holland, the coach held technical consultations with the South Korean Football Association. In 2005, the coach took over the Australian team, which immediately reached the final of the World Cup.
In 2006, Guus Hiddink, on the initiative, was invited to lead the Russian national team. The contract, under which Hiddink's salary was 7 million euros per year, was signed for 4 seasons. The coach worked with the players on a schedule that included periodic departures of the Dutchman to his homeland. In Russia, Hiddink was warmly treated, many football fans called the national team coach "Hiddink Gus Ivanovich". Photos of the coach of the Russian national team were printed on flags, souvenirs, posters, gift matryoshkas.
In 2008, the Russian team sensationally took third place in the European Championship, losing to Spain with a score of 3:0.
Guus Hiddink at Chelsea After the return of the players to their homeland, a program was organized with their participation, in which artists from the Comedy Club, the Fabrika group performed. In the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup, the team was defeated, and Guus Hiddink left the post of head coach.
In 2009, in addition to working in Russia, Hiddink oversaw the English club Chelsea and led him to first place in the FA Cup.
Guus Hiddink - Anji head coach In 2010, Gus took over as the head coach of the Turkish national team, two years later he moved to the Dagestan club Anji, which he helped to win third place in the Russian Cup. Since 2014, he has led the Netherlands national team for two years.
Personal life
In the mid-60s, Guus Hiddink married the same age as Ina Bemkes, who gave the footballer two sons - Michael (born 1969) and Mark (born 1972).
In the 2000s, the coach began to officially meet with the girl Elizabeth Pinas, his junior by several decades. Hus remained on friendly terms with his first wife, but he never married Elizabeth, but simply calls her a friend.
Guus Hiddink now
For several years, the coach has been on a well-deserved rest, but he constantly monitors the events taking place in the world of football. Now Guus Hiddink works as an expert on the sports channel Fox Sport USA. In 2017, on the instructions of the channel, he visited the Confederations Cup, in connection with which he arrived in St. Petersburg.
In an interview Russian media Guus Hiddink spoke positively about the team composition of the Russian national team, which performed at the Confederations Cup tournament in Russia, and also wished the women's team success at the European Championship. In his free time from football, Gus visited a cancer center for children.
Achievements
- Six-time Eredivisie champion
- Four-time Dutch Cup winner
- European Cup Winner - 1987
- Club "Real Madrid" - winner of the Intercontinental Cup - 1998
- The fourth place of the Netherlands team at the World Cup - 1998
- Fourth place of the South Korean team at the World Cup - 2002
- Dutch Supercup Winner - 2003
- Third place of the Russian team at the European Championship - 2008
- Chelsea Club - Winner of the FA Cup - 2009
But it is no less interesting to consider it in comparison with two other foreign coaches. Moreover, the backbone of this team, formed Gus Hiddink, lasted almost all eight years - from the selection of Euro 2008 to the qualification of Euro 2016.
GUS HIDDINK
Russian national team under Guus Hiddink: 22 wins, 7 draws, 10 losses. The goal difference is 66-39.
In official matches: 18 wins, 4 draws, 7 losses. Goal difference: 46-23.
Best Match: Russia - the Netherlands - 3:1 (Euro 2008).
Worst Match: Slovenia - Russia - 1:0 (playoffs of the 2010 World Cup qualification).
The first foreigner at the head of the Russian national team remains the most successful so far. Guus Hiddink we must best achievement- bronze medals of Euro-2008. In addition, he also has the highest percentage of wins - 56. And in official matches, even higher - 62%. The Dutchman was at the helm of the national team for two qualifying rounds, having spent 39 meetings with the team - only Oleg Romantsev, who led the national team twice, from 1994 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2002. Hiddink is also the most successful national team coach in the final tournaments of the world and European forums. On his account 3 victories - more than the same Romantsev.
Hiddink suffered his first defeat at the head of the Russian national team more than a year after his appointment. In general, the time of his leadership was the most stable. The lion's share of defeats fell on those matches where our team objectively was not a favorite. Twice they lost big to the Spaniards at the same triumphant Euro, twice they failed to cope with Germany in the selection for the South African World Cup, lost to the British at Wembley. For all these defeats, it was difficult to blame Hiddink. In official matches, the national team did not win in the status of a favorite only twice. First, Israel in the selection for Euro 2008, which almost crossed out all the efforts - thanks to the Croats for helping out. The second fiasco was also the last, since there was no one to save. Having lost to Slovenia in the second leg of the 2010 World Cup qualifying playoffs, he said goodbye to the national team.
DICK LAWYER
Russian national team under Dick Advocaat: 12 wins, 8 draws, 4 losses. The goal difference is 32-13.
In official matches: 8 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses.
Best Match: Czech Republic - Russia - 1: 4 (Euro 2012).
Worst Match: Greece - Russia - 1:0 (Euro 2012).
Work period Dick Advocaat got pretty short. He knew very well Russian football, players of the national team and did not bother himself with experiments, relying on approximately the same squad and trying to squeeze the maximum out of it. In qualifying for Euro 2012, this was generally successful. Although the group - thanks to Hiddink, who significantly increased the rating of the team, got passable. There was no longer any England or Germany - only Ireland, Armenia and Slovakia. On the last one they stumbled, for which Roman Shirokov later called it "collective farm". However, that only defeat for the cycle remained the only one, so it was not difficult to leave the group with 70% of victories.
Dick Advocaat was not particularly successful friendly matches in which the team looked amorphous. In them, the statistics were worse than in the official ones - 4 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses. However, on the eve of Euro 2012, the national team defeated Italy in sparring, impressing everyone. So there is an exception to this rule. As in the case of Hiddink, the team seemed to take “their” points regularly. But the same two misfires on two not the strongest rivals eventually cost the Advocate his place. And again, for the first time, it worked out, the home defeat from the Slovaks did not become critical. But when at the Euro the team limply lost in the decisive meeting to the Greeks, nothing could save Dick. Although with his 62% of victories in official matches, he caught up with Hiddink and is well ahead of Capello.
FABIO CAPELLO
Russian national team with: 15 wins, 10 draws, 4 losses. Goal difference - 49-19.
In official matches: 8 wins, 5 draws, 4 losses. Goal difference - 28-11.
Best Match: Russia - Portugal - 1:0 (Euro 2012 qualification).
Worst Match: Algeria - Russia - 1: 1 (World Cup 2014).
If we take the statistics of only official meetings, then 8 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses is a very modest result for a team that claims first place in the qualifying group and access to the playoffs of the world and European forums. The percentage of wins is only 47, that is, less than half. Under Advocate and Hiddink, it was significantly more, and most importantly, defeats happened less frequently.
The Italian started for health, but then a complete regression began, which will not be replaced by an upswing. Having shown a 100% result at the start of the qualifying round in 2012, the national team Capello won half of the matches in 2013 and only one (!) game out of seven in 2014. So the September victory over Luxembourg remains the only one in the last 8 official games. Against the backdrop of the stability of Hiddink and Lawyer, the Capello team is clearly losing. The Dutch lost a couple of key matches to inferior opponents in strength and did not solve the maximum problem. In the last cycle, Don Fabio seems to have repeated their path - all the same standard two misfires, non-critical with Northern Ireland and tragic at the World Cup. This time they lost to an equal opponent, Belgium, but the Algerians and Koreans, although they did not concede, did not get decisive points. However, Capello began the new qualification rather in the style of the predecessors of foreigners. Then we had a good tradition to fill up the beginning of the selection, then change the coach ( Byshovets, Gazzaev, Yartsev). . But the draw with Moldova and the defeat against Austria (and this is only after the first 4 rounds of qualification) are already seriously disrupting the schedule that we are used to with foreign coaches.
November 8, 2016 to the Dutch coach Guus Hiddink turns 70 years old. In our country today, he is best known for his work at the head of the Russian national football team in the period from 2006 to 2010.
On April 14, 2006, the history of Russian football was divided into before and after Guus Hiddink. He became the first foreign coach in the history of the Russian team. Also, the Dutch specialist became the first highly paid mentor Russian team. It was under him that our team achieved the highest achievement in its history: it won bronze medals at the 2008 European Championship.
Flying Dutchman
How did the Dutchman Guus Hiddink come to Russia? Let's say right away that he was a fairly average footballer: even in the championship season for his modest club De Graafschap, Gus was never able to get an invitation to the national team. The midfielder from the titled PSV club did not make it to the national team either. But the failures on the football field were fully compensated by a bright coaching career.
Guus Hiddink, 1988 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / NL-HaNA, ANEFO
After only two years of work as an ordinary coach in his almost native De Grafshap, Hiddink was invited to a similar position at PSV, where he received a promotion to head coach three years later. It must be understood that the growth from a player to a head coach in five years by the standards of 1987 is an unprecedented success.
For three seasons at the head of a club from Eindhoven - far from the most popular and famous in Europe - he makes a three-time winner of the national championship, a three-time winner of the National Cup and, which is generally equivalent to a miracle, the owner of the European Champions Cup out of a strong Dutch team. PSV won this title under Hiddink for the first and only time in the history of the team.
PSV player Hans Van Breukelen and head coach Guus Hiddink hold the European Cup, 1988. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Nationaal Archief Fotocollectie Anefo
In 1990, Hiddink takes a not so deliberate step, leaving PSV and signing a contract with the Turkish Fenerbahce. In a new country for himself, the coach fails to repeat the success of PSV, which the leadership of the Istanbul club was counting on. Gus is again forced to change his place of work and country, moving to Spain, namely, to Valencia. Under the guidance of a Dutch specialist, the local club of the same name regularly enters European competitions, but in no way can it compete for the championship title or compete with the strongest clubs in the European arena. In 1993, he left the team, but in 1994 he returned to it to complete the rest of the season in place of his dismissed successor.
In 1994, real recognition came to Hus at home: he was offered to lead the national team of the Netherlands. With her, he gets to the 1996 European Championship, where Holland appears as a disciplined team with a tough coaching hand, but with a lack of experience and, as a result, not the most successful result. However, the leadership of Dutch football sees prospects in Hiddink's work and trusts him with the national team for another two-year cycle - preparation for the 1998 World Cup - and is not mistaken. Two years later, Hiddink led the Netherlands to the semi-finals of the world championship, but then lost to the Brazilians in the fight for reaching the final and the Croats in the match for third place. After that, the coach leaves his post.
Immediately, he receives an invitation from one of the most titled, rich, famous and powerful clubs in the world: from Real Madrid. One of those offers you can't refuse. With Hiddink at the helm, the Galacticos win the Intercontinental Cup. But in this triumph, the merit of the Dutchman is not enough. He won only one match, to which the team was led by his predecessor, who won the Champions League with her. Even this title could not save Gus from dismissal, which followed the unsatisfactory results for such a team.
Failure awaited the coach in the next club: also Real Madrid, but from the city of Betis. In 2001, Hiddink, slightly forgotten by the fans, gets an opportunity for rehabilitation. An opportunity that many scoff at: he is invited to the South Korean national team, which is preparing to host the 2002 home world championship together with Japan. Three months before the start of the competition, Hiddink locks the entire team at the training camp, where his physiotherapists turn middle class football players into real fitness monsters capable of running a marathon. Partly in physical form, partly in the most severe discipline, partly in the judicial "miscalculations" lies the secret of South Korea's victories over Italy in the 1/8 finals and over Spain in the quarterfinals. Having beaten the strongest European teams, the Koreans lose to Germany in the semi-finals of the World Cup and give way to Turkey in the game for bronze. But Hiddink still becomes a national hero and the first honorary citizen of Korea in history, receives an island with a mansion as a gift and the right to travel by taxi around the country for free, as well as fly with the airlines of this state.
From 2002 to 2006, Hiddink takes a short break, returns to Holland, takes the helm of PSV, which has already become his own, and leads the club to three league titles. In 2005, he was invited to take the post of head coach of the Australian national team. The goal is to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The goal may seem simple enough today, with Australia qualifying for the Asian Football Confederation and having a good chance of winning a direct ticket. At the same time, the Australians belonged to Oceania, and even in the event of a victory in qualifying competitions did not receive a direct ticket, but had to play for the right to go to the World Cup play-offs with the fifth team from South America. Therefore, the Australians have not seen the World Cup since the distant 1974.
Everything changed when Gus took the helm. He found a place on the field for each of the "star" players of the Australian team from English Premier League, having managed to get the rest of the team to work for them. So he won qualifying tournament, beat the two-time world champions from Uruguay in the play-offs, left the group already in final tournament world championship and almost defeated Italy in the 1/8 finals, losing only in the last minutes of extra time. By this time, the entire planet was rooting for Australia, with the exception of one small peninsula, shaped like a boot. So Guus Hiddink gained worldwide fame as a master of making a team from a set of fairly average players capable of solving problems at the world level.
Perhaps that is why he received an invitation to take under his wing the Russian team, which began to be in charge of the new President of the Russian Football Union Vitaly Mutko. He was the first to decide to invite a foreign specialist to our national team. What came of it, we all remember very well.
From London to Makhachkala and back
What happened to Guus Hiddink at the helm of the Russian national team can be called the pinnacle of his coaching career, putting Euro 2008 bronze on a par with the fourth places in the world championship with Holland and South Korea. From that moment on, Hiddink's career, like the results of the Russian team, began to decline.
Having worked part-time for half a year in the “maternity” position of acting head coach at Chelsea, Hiddink left Russia without the 2010 World Cup, for half a year he avoided fulfilling his duties in every possible way, regularly receiving a salary, and in April 2010, even before the end of the contract with our team, signed an agreement with the Turkish national team. True, Hiddink’s relationship did not work out with the Turkish coast even on the second attempt: the team’s dismal results and the failure to qualify for the 2012 European Championship forced the coach to write a statement and leave his post.
Guus Hiddink as head coach of the Turkish national team. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Lucky for the Dutchman, Anji Makhachkala turned up, which began its “new history” with high-profile purchases and crazy ambitions. It is possible that the insatiability of the club from Dagestan partly prompted the adoption of the rules of financial fair play: in Europe they did not want to see nouveau riches in the Champions League, there were enough of Manchester City and PSG. Returning to Russia, Hiddink managed to win bronze championship awards with Anji, lead the club to the playoffs of the Europa League and the final of the Cup of the country. The owner of the Eagles was not expecting such a result from him Suleiman Kerimov. In 2013, Hiddink left his post, and later a short time the short “new history” of the Dagestan club ended in tragedy.
A year later, Hiddink “surfaced” in the Dutch national team, which he led at the end of the World Cup in Brazil. However, Hus did not manage to enter this “river” for the second time either. From the very first match, the Dutch began to fail, which ended with Hiddink's early dismissal and the failure of the "orange" to the European Championship.
Last on this moment Hiddink's place of work was the London Chelsea he knew. Roman Abramovich did not find anyone better than the then free Dutchman to cover the position of the head coach after the dismissal Jose Mourinho. Again London, again Chelsea, again the prefix acting. before the words "head coach". If the last time with the team Hiddink still managed to win the FA Cup and go to the semi-finals of the Champions League, now it was a relegation from all European competitions and - the lowest for Roman Abramovich's team - the tenth line in the national championship.
