Hiddink produces another magic
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The 61-year-old Dutchman, Guus Hiddink, once again demonstrated his famous reputation as a miracle worker.
His mastermind took Russia progress to the quarter-final after a deserved 2-0 victory over Sweden in their last group match.
It was their first ever knockout stages of a major tournament since, as the USSR, they lost to the Dutch in the Euro 1988 final.
The success maintained Hiddink's marvelous record of reaching the knockout stage in every major tournament he has coached.
Sweden, who only need a draw to progress to qualify ahead of Russia, started the match with Inter star Zlatan Ibrahimović after a weekend of acupuncture treatment.
However, the Swedes could not stand against the youngest team in the tournament as the Russians played their superb flowing football.
Russia, who had never beaten Sweden in their five previous meetings over 95 years, took the lead in the 24th minute through a beautifully team move.
Igor Semshov swapping passes with right-back Aleksandr Anyukov on the right flank, then the Zenit St Petersburg's man crossed low to find Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring his second goal of the tournament.
The Russians sealed the victory just five minutes into the second half when Russian Player of the Year, Andrei Arshavin, scored his side's second goal on his first appearance of the tournament after suspension.
The defeat signs the end of an ageing Swedish squad, which it seems players such as Freddie Ljungberg and Henrik Larsson ready to hand over the mantle.
It was the first group phase exit at a major tournament for the Swedes since Euro 2000, while the Russians completed the lineup for the last eight and will play Hiddink's native Netherlands in the quarter-final.
Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeev; 22-Aleksandr Anyukov, 8-Denis Kolodin, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 11-Sergei Semak, 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 20-Igor Semshov, 15-Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (9-Ivan Saenko 65); 10-Andrei Arshavin, 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko (23-Vladimir Bystrov 90)
Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson; 5-Fredrik Stoor, 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Petter Hansson, 2-Mikael Nilsson (20-Marcus Allbäck 79); 11-Johan Elmander, 8-Anders Svensson, 19-Daniel Andersson (16-Kim Källström 56), 9-Fredrik Ljungberg; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 17-Henrik Larsson
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
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His mastermind took Russia progress to the quarter-final after a deserved 2-0 victory over Sweden in their last group match.
It was their first ever knockout stages of a major tournament since, as the USSR, they lost to the Dutch in the Euro 1988 final.
The success maintained Hiddink's marvelous record of reaching the knockout stage in every major tournament he has coached.
Sweden, who only need a draw to progress to qualify ahead of Russia, started the match with Inter star Zlatan Ibrahimović after a weekend of acupuncture treatment.
However, the Swedes could not stand against the youngest team in the tournament as the Russians played their superb flowing football.
Russia, who had never beaten Sweden in their five previous meetings over 95 years, took the lead in the 24th minute through a beautifully team move.
Igor Semshov swapping passes with right-back Aleksandr Anyukov on the right flank, then the Zenit St Petersburg's man crossed low to find Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring his second goal of the tournament.
The Russians sealed the victory just five minutes into the second half when Russian Player of the Year, Andrei Arshavin, scored his side's second goal on his first appearance of the tournament after suspension.
The defeat signs the end of an ageing Swedish squad, which it seems players such as Freddie Ljungberg and Henrik Larsson ready to hand over the mantle.
It was the first group phase exit at a major tournament for the Swedes since Euro 2000, while the Russians completed the lineup for the last eight and will play Hiddink's native Netherlands in the quarter-final.
| Russia |  | 2 - 0 |  | Sweden |
| Roman Pavlyuchenko 24 | ||||
| Andrei Arshavin 50 |
Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeev; 22-Aleksandr Anyukov, 8-Denis Kolodin, 4-Sergei Ignashevich, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 11-Sergei Semak, 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 20-Igor Semshov, 15-Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (9-Ivan Saenko 65); 10-Andrei Arshavin, 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko (23-Vladimir Bystrov 90)
Sweden: 1-Andreas Isaksson; 5-Fredrik Stoor, 3-Olof Mellberg, 4-Petter Hansson, 2-Mikael Nilsson (20-Marcus Allbäck 79); 11-Johan Elmander, 8-Anders Svensson, 19-Daniel Andersson (16-Kim Källström 56), 9-Fredrik Ljungberg; 10-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 17-Henrik Larsson
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)
Statistics:
| Shots on target : | 8 | - | 6 |
| Shots off target : | 11 | - | 7 |
| Ball possession (%) : | 56 | - | 44 |
| Corner kicks : | 12 | - | 4 |
| Offsides : | 1 | - | 2 |
| Fouls : | 14 | - | 15 |
| Yellow cards : | 3 | - | 2 |
| Red cards : | 0 | - | 0 |
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