Hiddink reveals his secret of success against Katanec

Hiddink:"The intention was to isolate the strikers"
Hiddink's masterplan against Macedonia was to isolate Goran Maznov and Aco Stojkov up front, in order to disrupt the typically Macedonian style of a midfield short pass game. The strategy worked out quite well as the result shows."I am very satisfied - not only with the result, but with how it was achieved," Hiddink told Sport Express. "We controlled the match. The team made it their intention to press from the first minute and cut out any Macedonia attacks in the early stages. The intention was to isolate the opponent's strikers, and we did this in an excellent and disciplined manner. Having seen how the Macedonians played against England we treated them with the greatest respect. But also without fear. I am very happy that today we played like a team. Each player was playing for the good of the side."

Hiddink's "Dutch strategy"
"This was the best the team have played since I took over," the 60 year old said. As Hiddink stated elsewhere, he is trying to build a "Dutch" football philosophy within the Russian squad and the match against Macedonia was probably the beginning of this new Russian football era. The new formation consists of only 3 defensive players and 7 players, who can take over more offensive tasks, even in away matches. "That is my football philosophy. Even after we drew at home to Israel in our second qualifier, I wasn't going to change our tactics. I would not make things more defensive. This team has to develop its own style and I see this as an attacking one. When we got together for this match, I just had to check whether our more talented players could stick to team discipline when we didn't have the ball, as not all creative players can do so. But I was delighted with how we worked as a team today as everyone stayed with the group and played for each other."