Flying Dutchmen Hiddink and Van Basten lock horns

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - For Guus Hiddink and Marco van Basten 1988 figures prominently as the year when the two men, whose teams meet in Saturday's Euro 2008 quarter-finals, were in the full glare of the media spotlight.

Hiddink, 61, has steered unfancied Russia into the last eight after they recovered from a thrashing by Spain while the 43-year-old Van Basten's exciting Dutch side overwhelmed Italy and France to clinch a place in the quarters.

The pair, whose paths have rarely crossed over the years, will come face-to-face as coaches for the second time at the St Jakob Park stadium in Basel, with a place among the best four teams in Europe at stake.

The only other time Hiddink and Van Basten have been in opposite dugouts was for a warm-up match in Rotterdam ahead of the 2006 World Cup when the elder statesman was Australia coach and his team recovered to draw 1-1 with the Dutch.

Back in 1988 Hiddink had coached PSV Eindhoven to a domestic double before they completed a treble by winning the European Cup with a penalty shootout victory over Benfica in Stuttgart.

SUPERB VOLLEY

Nearly a month later in Munich, Netherlands striker Van Basten superbly volleyed a cross from Arnold Muhren over Soviet Union keeper Rinat Dasayev to seal a 2-0 win that captured the European Championship -- their first and only major trophy.

For Hiddink, PSV's success was the start of an impressive career as a coach that took him to clubs such as Fenerbahce, Valencia and Real Madrid before he accepted his first invitation to become a national manager with Netherlands in 1995.

That was the year Van Basten, then aged 30, was forced to retire with a wrecked ankle after a successful eight-year spell at AC Milan had brought him a haul of silverware.

Van Basten stepped away from the game while Hiddink established himself by guiding the Dutch and South Korea to the World Cup semi-finals in 1998 and 2002 respectively.

After his Korean adventure, where he became a national treasure, Hiddink returned to PSV for a four-year spell and won more domestic titles including another double.

VAN BASTEN RETURNS

In 2003, Van Basten returned to football as a coach with Ajax Amsterdam's reserves.

A year later he was named Netherlands coach on a four-year contract to succeed Dick Advocaat and made clear from the start that his mission was to win the European title in 2008.

Hiddink, by now with Australia, and Van Basten saw their teams knocked out in the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup after which the former accepted the Russia manager's job.

The Dutch struggled with their style of play in the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 but Van Basten fixed the problem in time for them to shine at the tournament.

Hiddink, meanwhile, lived up to his nickname 'Lucky Guus' to qualify Russia ahead of England for the finals where he made a poor start but used all his experience to get back on track.

When they lead their teams out on June 21 it will be exactly 20 years to the day since Netherlands celebrated a famous 2-1 semi-final victory over West Germany in Hamburg at Euro 1988 that finally avenged the World Cup final defeat of 1974.

Hiddink would have watched compatriot Van Basten with pride when he grabbed the winner two minutes from time as the Dutch came from behind to beat their old rivals. On Saturday, though, he will be hoping his compatriot's magic touch deserts him.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)