Dirty dozen add spice for Guus

Man management is traditionally the preserve of the club manager rather than the national coach but Hiddink has had to rehabilitate some of Russia's most complicated footballers in his bid to qualify for the finals of Euro 2008.

Calling the Russian squad the Dirty Dozen' — as some have done this week — may be stretching the point but some of the issues Hiddink has dealt with during his short time in the job certainly put Steve McClaren's recent injury problems in context.

"It's always good to have some characters who might think differently from everybody else because it makes it spicy," said Hiddink yesterday when asked about the make-up of his squad.

"Most of the rebellious characters have some idea of how football is played and sometimes they have some extra or special qualities. Coaches must not be afraid of using the extra or special qualities."

Certainly the most tragic case in Hiddink's squad is that of attacking midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov, who has had to rebuild his life after his wife jumped to her death from a window five years ago — taking the couple's four-year-old daughter with her.

Hiddink handed Zyryanov his first cap last season and the Zenit player has subsequently developed into one of his most progressive and reliable footballers.

Writing about such human tragedy in the same context as footballers who have merely had to overcome problems with discipline may appear inappropriate but it only serves to illustrate the issues Hiddink has had to confront in order to restore some sense of direction to a proud and demanding football nation.

Igor Semshov, for example, was banned for five games after kicking a referee up the backside during a domestic match. Eat your heart out Paolo Di Canio.

"I thought his decision was unfair," said the Dynamo Moscow midfielder. "And I don't like to lose."

Equally unpredictable is the temperament of Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who was banned for four games for terrorising a referee in his room after a league game against Tom Tomsk.

Remarkably, that sanction was overturned on appeal — prompting one to ponder just what players have to do to get into serious trouble in Russia.

One player who did not play for some time was the man once known as the Russian Michael Owen, 23-year-old Dmitry Sychev.

Sychev was banned for six months for going through the civil courts in a bid to bludgeon a transfer from Spartak Moscow to Marseille. Eventually he got his move, but only when he returned to Russian football with Lokomotiv did his goalscoring form return.

Hiddink scoffs at the notion that he has been brave to integrate such complex characters into his team.

He said: "In top football it is important to work on the edge to keep moving forward and keep going for the top.

"England, too, have so many players in the past and maybe now who have something extra in personality or skill. It is not just Russia."

Compared with some of the Russians, McClaren's players appear to be relative introverts.

Hiddink, however, believes that the two groups of players will be well matched on the pitch tonight and clearly feels his team can come out on top in two games between the nations that will effectively decide their destiny.

"We hope to get a result," he added. "We are working towards a strong team, which is very competitive for the qualification of World Cup 2010. But I don't want to take the pressure off when there is still a chance to qualify for 2008."

Hiddink, of course, was many people's favourite to take over from Sven Goran Eriksson last summer and has not ruled out interest in the England post in the future.

He said: "I don't know, I cannot predict the future."

But he did have one word of warning for the English game regarding the number of foreign players in the Premiership.

He said: "I have heard some people in the FA have concerns about the future of English players. I can imagine that everybody has that concern.

"If you compare the situation to Russia, in a few years there will be a maximum of four foreign players in the club sides."