Swedes cooked by Guus

Then, as they walked off the field, he waited and either shook their hands, hugged them or gave them a playful slap on the back of the head. Not until all 23 members of his squad had left the field did he follow them.

8220;I am especially very proud of the team,8221; he said after a 2-0 victory over Sweden had set up a meeting with his native Netherlands in the European Championship quarter-final.

Getting forward

8220;It8217;s the progress we have made in a few days with this team and the performance tonight. They played modern football. They tried to get forward as quickly as possible to get the goal they achieved in the first half. In the second half, they tried to push a little bit more. The only criticism you can make is that they didn8217;t score enough from the opportunities that we got.8221;

Hiddink8217;s Russia is a young, developing team with a standout playmaker in Andrei Arshavin, who missed the first two games through suspension but scored on his return and set up several other chances. The coach sees potential but wants it to continue developing. He has a contract through to the 2010 World Cup and has left the next move open.

Making history

In 2002, Hiddink led South Korea to the semi-finals of the World Cup, the furthest an Asian team had gone in the biggest football competition on the planet.

Now Hiddink is trying to do a similar thing with Russia. The coach, who also got to within a shootout of the 1998 World Cup with the Netherlands, seems to have the ability to get the best out of any national team he takes over.

After starting with a 4-1 loss to Spain in the same Tivoli Stadium with what Hiddink described as 8220;childish and naive8221; play, Russia edged defending champion Greece 1-0 and now has beaten the Swedes to reach the last eight.

It is the first time since Euro 8217;88 in Germany, when the team played as the Soviet Union, that they have reached this far. Then, they made it all the way to the final only to lose 2-0 to the Netherlands.

Tricky coincidence

By coincidence, Russia face the Dutch again, in Basel, Switzerland, on Saturday. 8220;I know the way we play we get respect because we play with the concepts that football should be played. They Holland do the same,8221; he said.

8220;It8217;s a special game because I know the Dutch players, I know the coach Marco van Basten and more people within the squad I worked with. But we play the style that they like to play. It has to be an interesting clash.8221;