Quarter-Final preview: Netherlands v Russia
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Russia will face a frightening Netherlands side which currently in a dazzling form to decide who will reach the final four of Euro 2008.
The Russians took the last quarter-finals spot after a classy 2-0 win against Sweden in their last group match.
Meanwhile their opposite number is the team that comfortably topped the 'Group of Death' with wins over Italy, France and Romania.
Two Dutchmen will come face-to-face as coaches for the second time.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink admits Saturday’s clash in Basel is a special occasion in his managerial career.
Hiddink have been in opposite dugouts with his counterpart Marco van Basten was on a 1-1 draw in a friendly match, when Hiddink was coaching Australia.
Majority of the Dutch first choice were rested by van Basten in the final group match against Romania.
The Dutch coach used mostly reserves so his regular players had more time to rest.
For the quarter-final, van Basten is likely to start with the second half team that squeezed France 4-1 last Friday, with Arjen Robben starting and Orlando Engelaar dropping to the bench.
Robben, who missed the opening match against Italy through injury, did well as second half substitute against Les Bleus and was a starter against Romania.
Van Basten has tried to cover all possibilities during the match as he made sure his players properly prepared for the prospect of a shoot-out.
The Dutch coach told that he already has five names for the shoot-out in his mind.
The Netherlands have lost four times on penalties, only ending the bad luck when they defeated Sweden in the quarter-final of Euro 2004, in their last seven major international tournaments.
Russia have been praised for their free-flowing and attacking football throughout the tournament so far.
Hiddink is pleased with the way his team has performed but believes they need to be more productive if they keen to progress any further.
The Russians have no major injury worries and Russian Player of the Year Andrei Arshavin should be fresh having played only 90 minutes thus far.
Hiddink was pleased with Arshavin’s performance against Sweden and will hope the 27-year-old can cause similar problems for the Dutch defense.
The presence of Dutch resourceful coach Hiddink is a major boost for Russia as he has built a reputation for his ability to help modest teams achieve their potential.
The former PSV Eindhoven coach, lived up to his nickname 'Lucky Guus', led South Korea and Australia to impressive runs in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Hiddink started his international coaching career with the Netherlands in 1994, leading the Oranje to the European Championship quarter-finals two years later and the 1998 World Cup semi-final before stepping down in the same year, following dramatic penalty shoot-out eliminations against Brazil.
Possible line-up
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The Russians took the last quarter-finals spot after a classy 2-0 win against Sweden in their last group match.
Meanwhile their opposite number is the team that comfortably topped the 'Group of Death' with wins over Italy, France and Romania.
Two Dutchmen will come face-to-face as coaches for the second time.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink admits Saturday’s clash in Basel is a special occasion in his managerial career.
Hiddink have been in opposite dugouts with his counterpart Marco van Basten was on a 1-1 draw in a friendly match, when Hiddink was coaching Australia.
Majority of the Dutch first choice were rested by van Basten in the final group match against Romania.
The Dutch coach used mostly reserves so his regular players had more time to rest.
For the quarter-final, van Basten is likely to start with the second half team that squeezed France 4-1 last Friday, with Arjen Robben starting and Orlando Engelaar dropping to the bench.
Robben, who missed the opening match against Italy through injury, did well as second half substitute against Les Bleus and was a starter against Romania.
Van Basten has tried to cover all possibilities during the match as he made sure his players properly prepared for the prospect of a shoot-out.
The Dutch coach told that he already has five names for the shoot-out in his mind.
The Netherlands have lost four times on penalties, only ending the bad luck when they defeated Sweden in the quarter-final of Euro 2004, in their last seven major international tournaments.
Russia have been praised for their free-flowing and attacking football throughout the tournament so far.
Hiddink is pleased with the way his team has performed but believes they need to be more productive if they keen to progress any further.
The Russians have no major injury worries and Russian Player of the Year Andrei Arshavin should be fresh having played only 90 minutes thus far.
Hiddink was pleased with Arshavin’s performance against Sweden and will hope the 27-year-old can cause similar problems for the Dutch defense.
The presence of Dutch resourceful coach Hiddink is a major boost for Russia as he has built a reputation for his ability to help modest teams achieve their potential.
The former PSV Eindhoven coach, lived up to his nickname 'Lucky Guus', led South Korea and Australia to impressive runs in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
Hiddink started his international coaching career with the Netherlands in 1994, leading the Oranje to the European Championship quarter-finals two years later and the 1998 World Cup semi-final before stepping down in the same year, following dramatic penalty shoot-out eliminations against Brazil.
Possible line-up
 | Netherlands |  | Russia | |
| 1 | van der Sar | 1 | Akinfeev | |
| 2 | Ooijer | 4 | Ignashevich | |
| 4 | Mathijsen | 8 | Kolodin | |
| 5 | van Bronckhorst | 10 | Arshavin | |
| 9 | van Nistelrooy | 11 | Semak | |
| 10 | Sneijder | 15 | Bilyaletdinov | |
| 11 | Robben | 17 | Zyrianov | |
| 17 | de Jong | 18 | Zhirkov | |
| 18 | Kuyt | 19 | Pavlyuchenko | |
| 21 | Boulahrouz | 20 | Semshov | |
| 23 | van der Vaart | 22 | Anyukov |
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