Russia lost to Slovenia on Wednesday night in Maribor and will therefore miss the 2010 World Cup finals. The match saw Russia, with star player Andrei Arshavin having a disappointing evening, reduced to nine men by the 90th minute as they threw men forward in an attempt to level the score on the night, RIA Novosti reports.
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| Slovenia's Zlatko Dedic, center, scores against Russia during their World Cup qualifying playoff second leg soccer match (AP photo) |
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 BREAKING NEWS |
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Russia’s football coach Guus Hiddink stated after his team World Cup qualifying failure that he would have to think about his contract with Russia next year.
Hiddink gave a brief interview to reporters near the national team bus after the bitter end of Russia-Slovenia match which ended with 0:1 score. As a result, Russia has lost the chance to participate in the World Cup in South African Republic in 2010.
"I have an existing contract until the end of the World Cup finals in July 2010. The question (of whether I will continue to Euro 2012) will require some time for thought. Before the matches with Germany and Slovenia the Russian Football Association (RFS) expressed their desire to continue working together. But we'll talk about the future at a later stage," the Dutchman said.
Like all Russian football fans President Dmitry Medvedev is disappointed with Wednesday’s match between the national football teams of Russia and Slovenia, Itar-Tass said.
“Of course, I supported the team, I was uptight about the game and hoped that our team will be able to turn the tide on the field. Naturally, I am disappointed like all our fans,” Medvedev said, sharing his impressions of the match, which he attended personally.
At the same time, the Russian president said that sport is not all about mastery, a lot depends on luck. “Today, luck was on the Slovenian side,” he said.
Coach Hiddink did not attend the news conference, which took place in Maribor after the game. “I didn’t want to offend anyone, but it was clear that all attention would be given to the Slovenian team. That is why we decided to go straight to the airport,” he said.
It will be the third time when Russia misses the World Football Cup since the break-up of the USSR. Russia previously missed world football championships in 1998 and 2006.
For Guus Hiddink, Russia’s loss is a disaster. The Russian team has become the only team in his career, which failed to qualify for the World Cup. In 1998, Hiddink succeeded with the team of the Netherlands, in 2002 – with South Korea and in 2006 with Australia’s team.
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