Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who has been widely tipped to succeed England boss Sven-Goran Ekiksson after the World Cup, will be the next coach of Russia's national team, local media reported yesterday.
Sport-Express newspaper, citing unnamed sources close to the Russian Football Union (RFU), said RFU chief Vitaly Mutko had told the players, who were preparing for last night's 1-0 friendly defeat to world champions Brazil, about his decision to hire Hiddink.
The RFU played down the report, with press officer Ilya Kazakov saying: "The information is very unexpected. I think the journalists have got ahead of events."
The report said Hiddink would take over immediately after the World Cup finals in Germany, which end in July.
The 59-year-old is currently coaching PSV Eindhoven and will lead Australia at the World Cup.
Hiddink, who took the Netherlands (1998) and South Korea (2002) to the World Cup semi-finals, has long been seen as a front runner to take over both the England and Russia national sides.
The Dutchman is also a favourite of Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich, who is a close friend of Mutko. Abramovich is financing an ambitious programme designed to improve Russian soccer.
The Russians have been without a coach since November when Yuri Syomin quit.
