Advocaat dispels doubts over desire

Soccer:Russia manager Dick Advocaat would not be too disappointed leaving Dublin with a point on Friday night, but has insisted his team has come to Ireland to win and has the ability to hurt the home side.

The Dutchman was recently quoted as saying defeat at the Aviva Stadium was “not an option” after dropping all three points at home to Slovakia last month and though he steered clear of such hyperbole today, one feels it will be the message in the dressing room tomorrow.

An Irish win would leave him and his side in a precarious position in Group B, with just three points from three games, and six adrift of Ireland.

Advocaat was appointed successor to his compatriot Guus Hiddink in May, after the latter failed to guide Russia to the World Cup. However, just one competitive win over Andorra and defeat in Moscow means the pressure is already on.

Speaking at Lansdowne Road today he reassured Russian fans and media “the intention is always to win the game,” but while defeat would most likely spell disaster, a draw would suffice.

When it was put to him that the hosts and his side were polar opposites in that Irish players perform for their country but not necessarily their clubs, the manager stressed the effort against Slovakia was not in question, even if the result did not reflect it.

“That is the quality of Ireland, they play for their country, but I was disappointed with result against Slovakia, not the performance.”

Advocaat will be without striker Roman Pavlyuchenko tomorrow and the Zenit St Petersburg trio of Vladimir Bystrov, Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Aleksandr Anyukov trained separately from the rest of the squad today. However, the manager has received assurances they will be fit and suggested their involvement in Champions League qualifiers had more to do with them being treated to a lighter session.

Regardless of who is selected, Advocaat dismissed Robbie Keane’s suggestion the opening exchanges will be like a game of chess. “Ireland do not like to play chess,” he joked, before backtracking somewhat and acknowledging it would not be a gung ho approach from the homeside.

“He (Keane) knows if they give us space we can damage them.”

The man to exploit that space would no doubt be Andrei Arshavin, who Advocaat, like Giovanni Trapattoni had just hours beforehand, compared to Aiden McGeady.

His performances at Spartak Moscow since his move from Celtic have impressed and surprised Advocaat. The former Rangers manager was already familiar with the winger but taken aback by how quickly he settled in the Russian league.

“He is a dangerous player and if you give him space he can damage defenders. But we don’t intend to do that.

“They are very happy with him at Moscow. I was surprised because he settled so quickly. I was surprised he went to Russia and not England.

“That type of player I like to have in my team. And I have one, fortunately,” he concluded with a smile.