Hiddink believed his side, who won after extra-time, were dominant in every department of the match and was delighted to see Russia rise to the challenge.

He said: "It's unbelievable what they did tactically. "To outplay tactically and physically the Dutch team is almost a miracle.

"I challenged the guys. Physically, tactically and technically we were better than the Dutch.

"Of course we realised we couldn't give away too many free-kicks to them, but as you get tired you tend to commit more fouls.

"However, my players responded really well and instead of relying on the counter-attack they pressed for the winning goal."

Arshavin, the influential figure on the pitch, praised Hiddink for outsmarting the Dutch.

"One Dutch coach beat 11 talented Dutch players," said Arshavin.

"It's great happiness for me and for the whole of Russia."

Dutch coach van Basten admitted that his side were second best.

"We didn't play football, and never got into the game," he conceded.

"Normally we should have been in better shape than the Russians. We didn't see that.

"But the Russians played a lot better than we did and deserved their victory.

"I can live with the indisputable fact that they were better than us.

"We delivered some remarkable performances in the first round, but, today we were not able to repeat those."