Advocaat wishes Gers well for treble chance
Thursday, 15 May 2008 12:24
Dick Advocaat backs Rangers to win domestic treble
Zenit St Petersburg manager Dick Advocaat has praised the 'great achievement' of his former club Rangers in finishing as runners up in the Uefa Cup this season.
The Gers were gunning for an unprecedented quadruple this season, with a domestic treble opportunity combined with a major European final.
However, a superbly worked opening goal from Igor Denisov and a late Konstantin Zyryanov finish ensured the Scottish side went down 2-0 at the City of Manchester Stadium.
And despite ending the title dreams of his old club, who he guided to a domestic treble in 1999, Advocaat backed the Glasgow giants to recover from the disappointment of defeat by winning the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Cup next week.
"I am still very close with Rangers and I think what they have achieved with a new squad is great," the 60-year-old told the club's website.
"They have been playing in four different tournaments and I hope they can now go on and win the treble.
"But the fact they have reached the final of the Uefa Cup with a new squad says a lot about the team spirit that the manager [Walter Smith] has brought back to the club. They should be proud of what they have done."
Advocaat, who has built a highly technical and skilful side and won the Russian league title in only his second season, said he is "absolutely delighted" to have lifted one of club football's most prestigious trophies.
"It is not often in your life that something like this happens so I am very happy that Zenit have done this," he continued.
"The way we have played in Europe this season I think we deserve this although it was a tight game for long spells against Rangers."
He added: "But we scored a couple of brilliant goals and I think over the 90 minutes we were the better team."