page_title: Guus Hiddink
section_title: Russia
hierarchical_section_title: Guus Hiddink / Managerial career / Russia
caption_attribution_description: English: Guus Hiddink as head coach of Russia at EURO 2008
context_page_description: Guus Hiddink is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. Hiddink is currently the manager of the Curaçao national team. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands, playing for sides such as PSV Eindhoven, De Graafschap and NEC Nijmegen, as well as some time spent playing in the United States. Since retiring from playing the game in 1982, Hiddink has gone on to enjoy an illustrious career in management, leading both clubs and countries from across the globe to achieve various titles and feats.
  In March 1987, Hiddink was appointed PSV manager after previously serving as assistant. Hiddink's PSV side won three consecutive Eredivisie titles, three consecutive KNVB Cups and the European Cup in the historic Treble-winning season of 1987–88. Hiddink spent one unsuccessful season at Istanbul side Fenerbahçe, then the following season was appointed manager of Valencia, where he stayed until November 1993. He returned to the Mestalla in March 1994, where he stayed for the rest of the 1993–94 season.
context_section_description: On 10 April 2006, Hiddink announced on Dutch television that he would take over as manager of the Russian national team. He signed a 2-year contract in April 2006 worth €2 million a year. His duties for Russia started after managing Australia during the 2006 World Cup.
  Russia's Euro 2008 qualification hopes came into question after a 2–1 loss to Israel. However, after a win against Andorra, and England losing out to Croatia on the last match day, Russia and Hiddink secured qualification for the final stages of Euro 2008. At the tournament, the Russians managed to reach the semi-finals with victories against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and defending champions Greece in the group stage.
  Piet de Visser, a former head scout of Hiddink's club PSV and now a personal assistant to Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, recommended Hiddink to the Chelsea owner, following the departure of Avram Grant at the end of the 2007–08 Premier League season. In March 2008, however, Hiddink had already chosen to exercise the two-year extension with Russia, keeping him in the national team's head coaching role until 2010.
  In November 2009, Russia was defeated by Slovenia in a 2010 World Cup qualifying play-off, casting doubt on future ambitions. On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Hiddink would leave the position when his contract expired on 30 June.
caption: Hiddink managing the Russian national team
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