Advocaat's Russian fairytale

Dick Advocaat might not be remembered too fondly in the UAE since he walked out on the national team after less than three months for a tilt at the World Cup with South Korea. But to be honest, it was always going to be tough for the Football Association to keep hold of a man who has such a distinguished record in management with spells at PSV Eindhoven, Rangers and twice with the Holland national team, who he took to the semi-finals of Euro 2004. His brief sojourn in the Emirates came back in 2005 and, after Korea, came the relatively unknown Zenit St Petersburg, where he has shaped a side that is now making a major impact in European football. Last season's Uefa Cup success, beating Bayern Munich and Rangers in the semi finals and final, showed they were ones to watch and Manchester United were the latest giant to be slain in the Super Cup showdown in Monaco. Even with their star player, Andrei Arshavin, starting on the bench, the Russian champions claimed a 2-1 victory with goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and the impressive debutant Danny. It was well-deserved too and sent out a message of intent to Real Madrid and Juventus, who will face them in the Champions League group stage. "I think it is not an easy draw for us, but we did really well in the Uefa Cup and why not in the Champions League too?" said Advocaat. "We gave a warning so everybody knows what to expect, but the Champions League is a bit different to this game." Potential dark horses for the trophy? Sir Alex Ferguson thinks so. "I think they will do well," said the manager of the reigning European champions. "They are strong and have a good chance. I cannot deny that Zenit deserved to win." After going 2-0 down, United, led by the inventive Carlos Tevez, did stage a late rally with Nemanja Vidic slotting home. But the dismissal of Paul Scholes for a second yellow card after he punched the ball into the net ended their hopes. The midfielder will now miss the Champions League opener with Villarreal through suspension and that left Ferguson annoyed, particularly with Owen Hargreaves still not fit after a knee injury. Ferguson is hopeful Michael Carrick will be back to face the Spaniards after an ankle knock. "We'd have liked to play him [Hargreaves] and get him back into the run of things," he added. "He has not played enough football in the last year; it is disappointing." With the transfer window closing tomorrow, United are still hoping to finalise the transfer of the Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov with Louis Saha heading to Everton and Hull hoping to take Fraizer Campbell for £7million (Dh47m). Spurs are still looking at Arshavin to replace Berbatov, but Advocaat says the Londoners have yet to meet his £18m asking price. "They had several weeks of time to buy him and they did not offer ?22m like everybody has been writing, but just ?16m. I think that Arshavin costs more than ?16m."

akhan@thenational.ae