Quarter-final 3: Netherlands v Russia,

Basel 21 June 2008
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Team newsDutch view Boulahrouz Russia view

UEFA EURO 2008 QUARTER-FINAL
Date: Sat 21 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel
Coverage: Highlights on BBC ONE and BBC Sport website (UK only), full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and on BBC Sport website (UK only), full text coverage on BBC Sport website and mobiles; live on ITV
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Netherlands coach Marco van Basten is set to revert back to his favoured starting XI after resting a host of players last time out against Romania.

That could mean only Khalid Boulahrouz - who will play despite the death of his prematurely-born baby daughter - and Arjen Robben keep their places.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andre Ooijer and Dirk Kuyt will all return to the side.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink will name an unchanged line-up to the one that beat Sweden 2-0 in their final group game.

That victory was inspired by Andrei Arshavin, the Zenit St Petersburg playmaker who had been suspended for the first two group games - a 4-1 defeat to Spain and a narrow 1-0 win over Greece.

"I don't think we needed to score that many goals in the Swedish game," said Arshavin. "We needed to save them for the next games and I hope we will score a few against the Dutch.

"If we didn't have to play the Netherlands, we would feel much better, because I think they are the best side here.

"But fate has it that we have to play the strongest team in the tournament in the last eight. I hope we will be able to match them."

Russia's performance in the win over Sweden prompted many observers to predict a possible upset against the Netherlands, despite the Netherlands' 100% record in the tournament so far.

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The match has a further twist, in that Russia coach Hiddink is a Dutchman, and led Holland to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1998.

And Hiddink, who will reportedly earn a £400,000 bonus for leading Russia into the last eight, will hope to avenge Russia's defeat to the Netherlands at Euro '88.

The Netherlands, though, have been in superb form in this Championship, beating World Cup winners Italy 3-0, World Cup finalists France 4-1, and then Romania 2-0 with a side largely made up from fringe members of the squad.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands' Nigel de Jong and Andre Ooijer, and Russia's Ivan Saenko, Dmitry Torbinsky, Denis Kolodin, Andrei Arshavin and Sergei Semak, are all a booking away from missing a potential semi-final clash with either Spain or Italy.
source : www.news.bbc.co.uk