Spanish captain Casillas seeks revenge

Iker Casillas fears Guus Hiddink could ruin Spain's bid to get their Euro 2008 campaign off to a winning start today.

The Russia coach has an in-depth knowledge of Spanish football after spells in charge of Real Madrid, Valencia and Real Betis. And he goes into the game in Innsbruck having already got one over the Spanish as his South Korea side knocked them out of the 2002 World Cup.

"Hiddink knows Spanish football inside out," said Spain goalkeeper and captain Casillas. "With all the teams he has coached he has done well. We have a lot of respect for him and for all he has achieved. Xavi and myself were both in Korea and we suffered there against one of his teams."

Midfielder Xavi, the only other survivor of that quarterfinal-defeat, said Russia would be difficult opponents. He said: "They are a tough, gritty team. They may not have many big European names but they play direct football, they have pace and are very skilful.

"Their coach knows us perfectly and he will do all he can to counteract our possession play. It will be very important to score the first goal."

Hiddink has given his side a licence to express themselves even though they are lacking experience on the biggest stage. Russia failed to qualify for the last World Cup and were knocked out of Euro 2004 in the first round. Hiddink said: "If we all play football, if we try to give Spain a hard time, I will be happy. I don't want to see a team who are afraid to play, as was the case in past tournaments. We've done our best, we've trained well, and we're here to give Spain a good fight.

"Spain are very powerful, a lot of my players are coming up to their first major tournament.

"So of course they are lacking experience in major tournaments, with all the pressure that entails, so I'm looking forward to seeing a Russian team doing their best to play football, and that's important."