This match is what the neutrals have been looking forward (the Spain-Italy clash is another) to. Two teams who play exciting football (though for one side, it was only a defeat before they get back on their feet again). Or maybe again, both coaches are Dutch themselves.
Holland - Marco van Basten, Russia - Guus Hiddink. van Basten's claim to fame...it was the volley against the then-Soviet Union in the Euro 1988 final. which eventually landed Holland their only major title to date. Hiddink...he has been a well-travelled coach and one who had helped made the underdogs into potential contenders (South Korea in the 2002 World Cup, Australia in the 2006 World Cup). Anyhow, playing football the Dutch way has always been reowned everywhere. It all began with 'Total Football' in the 70s with Johan Cyruff (who till now, still regarded as the best Dutch footballer) leading the pack.
On a personal scale, it's a match my father is looking forward after Portugal is out. But then again in terms of football, Holland has always been his other 'love' (England will always be No.1 for him) since school. The way the Oranje has been playing so far is like the Oranje has been in his schooldays.
Holland being one of the three teams in this tournament having a 100% record in the group stages. Even upstaging world champions Italy and World Cup finalists France along the way. Russia became the last team to qualify for the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over Sweden on their final group match. People always use 'the Russians are coming' in other contexts but, even ahead of the match in Basel, Russia's playmaker Andrei Arshavin has warned Holland to expect his side's attacking machine to hit top gear. 1988 was the last time before the breakup of the former Soviet Union (in 1991) when Soviet football reached dizzying heights. A certain Marco van Basten destroyed those hopes in then-West Germany two years ago as a player. Back in 1988, a certain Guus Hiddink led PSV Eindhoven to their only European Cup to date as well.
To be patriotic or to be professional? Hiddink's young Russian side (in fact, it's the youngest squad of the tournament) up against his compatriots...speaking to the media before the match, he jokingly said that he wants to be the 'traitor of the year' back in his native Holland. Given it will mean that Russia have beaten his compatriots. Facing his compatriots is definitely something special for him given his first foray into international football was that he was the coach of the Oranje from 1994 to 1998, which he led them to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup. And it was him who launched current Oranje captain and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's international career in 1995. But he could also be the same person who will end the Manchester United keeper's career with the Oranje (given van der Sar had talked before on international retirement after this tournament).
Everyone might had been amazed at the likes of how Wesley Sneijder had been so far. But then, there's also another person in the Oranje who wants to be a Euro kingmaker at the end of the tournament - Rafael van der Vaart. He might had been nickmaed as the 'Little Prince of the Arena' during his time at Ajax (before his move to Hamburg), but he has been the lynchpin in the Dutch success so far at Euro 2008. Holland may have amazed everyone at their style of play (with them scoring the most goals so far in this tournament with a three-goal-per-average mark in the group stages), the Hamburg playmaker says that they have won nothing yet.
Over at Russia, Andrei Arshavin has been snatching the headlines and for the right reasons too. His national coach Guus Hiddink had once described him as a player who “makes something out of nothing”. The Zenit St. Petersburg player announced his return from suspension with a goal against Sweden. When I saw him in action at that time, it was then I finally realised many major European clubs are chasing for his signature. But then again, Zenit is sponsored by Russia's state-owned gas company Gazprom...
This is how Reuters view the likely formation, strengths and weaknesses of Holland and Russia. While on the team news front, other than Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz will be playing after just this week his pregnant wife gave birth to a premature baby girl who died shortly after, no injury concerns from both sides. The fact that the Sevilla defender wants to play shows how much the human spirit can do even with a minor setback outside of football.
The only Oranje captain who has lifted a major trophy so far Ruud Gullit was telling Ford's Feel Football programme that the current Dutch side would just edge out Russia coached by compatriot Guus Hiddink. He's impressed with what his former teammate and current Oranje coach Marco van Basten is doing.
This tournament is Marco van Basten's (or 'Saint Marco' as he is known back in Holland) swansong before he coaches his former club Ajax. Will his stay in the tournament last for another match, or will his compatriot Guus Hiddink do something instead?
