GUUS Hiddink is relishing a clash against Holland after guiding Russia to the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 with victory over Sweden.

Roman Pavlyuchenko and Andrei Arshavin grabbed the goals in the 2-0 win at Innsbruck's Stadion Tivoli Neu, setting up the last-eight clash for the weekend.

Since starting to compete as Russia, in 1992, it is the first time they have made it out of the group stages of a major tournament.

"I know the way we play we get respect because we play with the concepts that football should be played, like Holland," said Hiddink, who was Holland's manager in the mid-1990s.

"I don't know if they fear us but they have five days more rest, which is an advantage.

"It's a special game because I know the players, the coach and more people within the squad I worked with.

"I'm very proud of my team and the progress they have made in the last few days. They play modern football.

"The only criticism you can make is that we don't score enough of the opportunities we created. Nevertheless, this team have made tremendous progress."

Arshavin was back from suspension and was at the heart of Russia's fluent attacking, unlocking Sweden's defence to start the move that led to Pavlyuchenko's 24th-minute opener.

The second goal came just after the break, with Arshavin sliding home after a flowing move.

Delight

Meanwhile, Spain coach Luis Aragones was delighted with his side's second-half showing against Greece as they continued their 100% start to Euro 2008 with a last-gasp 2-1 win in Salzburg.

Aragones had named virtually an entire new starting XI for the match with Spain already guaranteed to finish as Group D winners following their victories over Russia and Sweden.

Despite dominating possession during the first half though, Spain found themselves trailing at the break following Angelos Charisteas's headed goal just before half-time for the outgoing European champions.

Aragones refused to turn to his rested big guns at half-time though, and the fringe players justified their coach's faith by turning the game round in the second half thanks to goals from Ruben De la Red and Dani Guiza, whose winning strike came in the 88th minute.

Those goals helped Spain extend their unbeaten run to 19 matches - the last nine of which have been victories - and gave them the perfect boost ahead of their quarter-final showdown against Italy.

Aragones said: "In the second half the effort from my players showed that they are in great shape physically.

"We didn't have the tempo we needed in the first half, we were playing at Greece's rhythm. But in the second half we played as well as we have played, we had five or six chances and could have scored more goals." Tweet