Russia's head football coach Guus Hiddink on Wednesday ended his final match at an away friendly game against Hungary in the city of Gyor with a 1-1 draw.
The Dutch trainer will begin coaching the Turkish national team in August. He quit Russia after failing to take the side to this summer's World Cup finals.
Hiddink took over the Russian team in the summer of 2006 and worked wonders to transform the fortunes of a side that had become something of a national joke, taking it to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and making a genuine world star of diminutive forward Andrei Arshavin. He was hailed as the savior of the Russian game and there were calls for him to be granted honorary citizenship. A number of children were also named after him by enthusiastic fans.
However, he was criticized throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign for spending too little time in Russia and relying too heavily on the players who had served him so well at Euro 2008.
Matters came to a head in a crucial play-off against tiny Slovenia when a lackluster and tired Russia crashed out after a 2-1 win at home was cancelled out by a 1-0 defeat in Maribor, much to the dismay of the Russian political and business elite watching the game.
"We've had four good years," Andrei Arshavin told Sport Express ahead of Wednesday's match. "We demonstrated quality football in most of our matches."
"Unfortunately, we ruined the impression of the last four years with our performance in Maribor," he added.
Russia, who have been drawn with the Republic of Ireland in their Euro 2012 qualifying group, have yet to appoint a new coach.
MOSCOW, March 3 (RIA Novosti)
