Advocaat: Russia played brilliantly against Greece

The Dutch trainer was made to rue a lack of incisiveness from his strikers after his team's unexpected Euro 2012 exit in an otherwise dominant performance

By Igor Mladenovic

 Dick Advocaat believes that Russia's Euro 2012 exit was undeserved and that his team completely outplayed Greece during Saturday night's 1-0 defeat.

The Russians were touted as dark horses for the continental crown after their 4-1 demolition of Czech Republic on the opening day of the tournament, but were ultimately eliminated at the group stage after drawing with Poland and losing to Fernando Santos' men.

However, the 64-year-old has maintained that his troops deserved to clinch a victory that would have seen them qualify for the latter stages of the tournament after dominating their opponents.

"We played a brilliant first half," Advocaat told De Telegraaf. "Our attackers were unfortunately not sharp enough. When the Greeks scored a goal, that changed the whole story.

"We had many opportunities, but were just not sharp enough to score. We went to the European Championships to win, not just to play. We tried to control the game and ultimately to decide it.

The Dutchman went on to praise Fernando Santos' Greek side for a stern defensive display which saw them survive a number of Russian attacks.

"I have to compliment the Greeks. They stayed up well against the Russian attacks and defended very right. "

Advocaat is set to join PSV after two years in charge of Russia.