Source: Xinhua

06-25-2008 17:59

Special Report:   2008 European Championships

VIENNA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia coach Guus Hiddink has been quite sure that his men would like nothing better than to revenge on the better rated Spain here on Thursday at the both sides' first Euro semifinal in last two decades.

Russia's head coach Guus Hiddink (C) gestures during a soccer training  session in Vienna June 24, 2008. Russia will face Spain in the Euro  2008 semi-final on June 26.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The Magic Dutch dubbed his Russian side a "sleeping giant" after stopping the Netherlands' winning streak by a 3-1 extra time victory in last Saturday's quarterfinal, and was confident that his team will put Spain's Euro 2008 dreams to bed.

Russia endured a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the hands of Luis Aragones' side during their tournament opener, before going on to win their remaining group matches against Sweden and Greece.

The victory over highly-favored Holland made Russia the most discussed rising power and earned them a semifinal berth to again meet La Seleccion.

Hiddink hopes that Thursday's match will be a revenge campaign for the Russians.

"This game will be very different from the first match against Spain and we want revenge," said the 61-year-old, who led South Korea to their first ever World Cup last four before repeating hismagic here at Euro 2008 with Russia.