Russia

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Hiddink bows out with pride

27 Jun 2008 - 07:19:52

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Russia coach Guus Hiddink revealed his pride in his players despite their 3-0 semi-final defeat at the hands of Spain.

Second-half strikes from Xavi, Daniel Guiza and Daniel Silva fired Spain into a final meeting with Germany, but afterwards a proud Hiddink hailed his players for reaching the last four.

"For us it's the end of the tournament and disappointment is in our heads tonight," said the experienced Dutchman.

"When our emotions have calmed down we will be able to say we are very proud at not just our results but at the way the boys have played in this tournament.

"I don't want to look for excuses but it shows we're short in the depth of Russian players we have.

"If you can keep the score at 0-0 then it's okay, but when you go 1-0 down, if you don't get an equaliser within ten or 15 minutes you have to open up, which makes it difficult to catch an experienced team."

"The squad can learn a lot from this tournament and it should be beneficial in qualifying (for the World Cup)."