Former Russia national team striker Roman Pavlyuchenko shared his memories of the period when the team was managed by Dutch specialist Guus Hiddink. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.
At the 2008 European Championship, the Russian players reached the semifinals. According to Pavlyuchenko, Hiddink physically prepared the team very well.
He recalled that in the first weeks, after training sessions, he even lost his appetite for food. After some time, this condition eased.
He spoke about this on Fyodor Smolov's podcast. During the tournament group stage, the Russian national team played against Spain, Greece, and Sweden.
Despite losing to Spain 1:4 in the group, they defeated Greece and Sweden. In the quarterfinals, they beat the Dutch 3:1 after extra time.
However, in the semifinals, they lost again to Spain with a score of 0:3. These results demonstrate the team's strong performance and successes under Hiddink's leadership.
