Hiddink bounces Russia to bounce back

October 12, 2008

Guus Hiddink insists his Russian side will bounce back from yesterday’s 2-1 defeat by Germany.

It was their first defeat of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign and they must now win at home to Finland in Moscow on Wednesday to get their campaign back on track.

Goals from Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and Bayern Munich outcast Lukas Podolski has Germany cruising and although Andrei Arshavin pulled a goal back, it wasn’t enough.

“In the break, I told them they had dropped back into their old ways and were sitting back too much,” said the 61-year-old Dutchman.

But in the second-half only good work from Germany goalkeeper Rene Adler, making his international debut after first-choice Robert Enke broke his hand last week, kept the Russians out as both Arshavin and striker Pavel Pogrebnyak went close.

“We showed we learnt a lot during the game,” said Hiddink.

“And if we play in the same way as we did here in the second half, then we will qualify for the World Cup.”

Russia are fourth in the table ahead of Wednesday’s match with Finland, while Germany are top with three points from seven games.

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