Hiddink said if the team qualified for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, it would be a major boost to the Russian soccer and the most important thing to do now was to stabilize the results of the team. He added that he wanted to see a Russian soccer revival during his tenure.
Russia will play in a tough group, the Dutch coach said, but there would be a success if the team worked hard, starting with the practice session Tuesday before a friendly match with Latvia on August 16.
His assistant coach Igor Korneyev said he was proud and honored to work with Hiddink, who took South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup and guided Australia to their debut finals this year, and added that the Russian team might achieve great results.
However, Korneyev suggested that an influx of foreign players to Russian clubs had been detrimental for the domestic game.
"Most of the goals are scored by foreigners and it is hard for talented Russian players to force their way through," Korneyev said.
Russia's national team failed to qualify for this year's World Cup in Germany in a campaign that saw a new nadir when the team was thrashed 7-1 by Portugal in October 2004. Although performances subsequently improved after Yury Syomin, one of the country's most respected managers, took over from Georgy Yartsev, it was not enough to save him and he resigned after the last game.
Russia will face England, Andorra, Estonia, Macedonia, Israel and Croatia in its Group E qualifiers for Euro-2008.
