referee Luis Medina Cantalejo awarded Italy's Fabio Grosso a controversial penalty kick eight seconds from the end of normal time, which was converted by Francesco Totti. This put Australia out of the World Cup, marking the official end of Hiddink's tenure as Australia's national coach. Russia On 10 April 2006, Hiddink announced on Dutch television that he would take over as manager of the Russia national team. He signed a two-year contract in April 2006 worth €2 million a year. His duties for Russia started after managing Australia during the 2006 World Cup. Russia's Euro 2008 qualification hopes came into question after a 2–1 loss to Israel. However, after a win against Andorra, and England losing out to Croatia on the last match day, Russia and Hiddink secured qualification for the final stages of Euro 2008. At the tournament, the Russians managed to reach the semi-finals with victories against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and defending champions Greece in the group stage. Piet de Visser, a former head scout of Hiddink's club PSV and now a personal assistant to Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, recommended Hiddink to the Chelsea owner, following the departure of Avram Grant at the end of the 2007–08 Premier League season. In March 2008, however, Hiddink had already chosen to exercise the two-year extension with Russia, keeping him in the national team's head coaching role until 2010. In November 2009, Russia was defeated by Slovenia in a 2010 World Cup qualifying play-off, casting doubt on future ambitions. On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Hiddink would leave the position when his contract expired on 30 June. Chelsea After the sacking of Chelsea's manager, the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, during the 2008–09 Premier League season, Chelsea confirmed on 11 February 2009 that Hiddink would become Scolari's replacement until the end of the season, whilst continuing his duties with Russia. Hiddink's first game in charge was a 1–0 away victory against Aston Villa at Villa Park. His first game in charge at Stamford Bridge was a 1–0 victory over Juventus in the Champions League knockout stage. Success continued in the form of a 3–1 away victory against Liverpool—commentators stated that Hiddink had rejuvenated Chelsea following Scolari's departure. After knocking Liverpool out of the competition, Hiddink went on to take Chelsea to the semi-finals of the Champions League, where the club was eliminated on the away goals rule to