Andy Potts 

Russia's match of the year ended in disappointment - but a 1-0 home defeat to 10-man Germany left GuusHiddink's team defiant rather than deflated.

MiroslavKlosé's 35th-minute goal shattered the dreams of a capacity crowd at Luzhniki, and ensured the Germans could book their place at next year's World Cup.

But, with a two-legged winner-takes-all play-off to come next month, the Russian bear is still hopeful of marauding its way around South Africa next summer.

"We have a good chance to qualify in November - on condition we play as we have done tonight," Hiddink told journalists after Saturday's game.

"I don't have any preferred opponent because we don't know who else will be in the play-offs, but if we play like we have in our recent qualifying games we are strong favourites against any opponent."

That assessment was backed by German coach Joachim Loew, who said he "was sure" Russia would emerge from the play-offs victorious.

But on a night when only victory would keep alive any realistic hope of direct qualification for the finals, Russia could not find a way past René Adler in the German goal.

An inspired performance on the left wing from Vladimir Bystrov saw his marker Jerome Boateng end his international debut 20 minutes early, having picked up a second yellow card for a late challenge on the Zenit player.

And Bystrov was involved in one of two late penalty claims as Russia poured forward in search of an equalizer.

Those penalty incidents - one involving Michael Ballack bringing down Andrei Arshavin, the second seeing Bystrov hauled over in full flight - left Hiddink philosophical as his players fumed.

"People who know have told me it was a 100 per cent certain penalty," Hiddink said. "If we had been given that we might have had a very hot last few minutes. But a beaten team always says that."

Igor Semshov was less forgiving of the Swiss referee Massimo Busacca.

"We got the impression that Ballack was untouchable - twice we saw the purest penalty kick, but Busacca stood two metres away and did not notice," he told journalists after the game. "It was a very strange decision."

Despite dominating much of the game, though, the hosts were undone on 35 minutes when Lukas Podolski worked a one-two with Mesut Ozil down the left and crossed for Klosé to score his seventh in seven internationals.

Even the second-half introduction of talismanic striker Roman Pavlyuchenko - kept on the bench as he recovers from injury - failed to provide the spark for a fight-back win reminiscent of the triumph over England in 2007.

While he came close to converting Alexander Anyukov's cross he was unable to produce a goal.

Overall Hiddink was content with his team's performance.

"In our two games against Germany we have shown that our team is better than it was when I arrived here," he said. 

"We can't be happy about the result but the way we played - we played in attacking way, like football should be - we have to be satisfied.

"We faced a team which didn't want to attack, which came and played on the counter-attack - that's OK, that's their tactic - and we made chances but we weren't good enough with our final ball."

Russia's fans arrived at the stadium full of confidence and belief, bellowing their way through the national anthem and sending cries of "Forward, Russia!" reverberating through the sold-out arena.

But the German team managed to stifle the atmosphere - and the game - early on, and the belief in stands was clearly waning as the second half went on.

And midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov admitted that it was "sad" that supporters had not stayed behind at the end to applaud the team.

"The atmosphere wasn't as good as when we played England," he said in the mixed zone. "Perhaps this time they were expecting a fairy-tale. After we lost it seemed to me that most fans did not stay and applaud us, and that is sad."

What happens next:

Russia travel to Azerbaijan on Wednesday for their final group match, knowing that their second-placed finish is secure.

To qualify for the World Cup finals, GuusHiddink's team must now overcome another Euro group runner-upon November 14 and 18.

Ranked sixth in the world by FIFA, Russia will be seeded in the draw on October 19, meaning they escape a tricky tie against the likes of France or Portugal.

But Russia could face an intriguing clash with neighbours Ukraine - assuming they beat Andorra in midweek.

Other potential opponents include the Republic of Ireland, Bosnia or the runner-up from group three, where second-placed Slovenia hope a win over minnows San Marino will help them pip Slovakia to top spot. The Slovaks travel to Poland needing to match their rival's result.