After taking South Korea to an amazing fourth place in 2002, Guus Hiddink
is yet again the man of the moment as he qualified the Australian team to the
World Cup finals. The Socceroos are playing in Germany just as their
counterparts did way back in 1974.
In that year they qualified for the World Cup for the first time, all with a
team of unknown, part-time players. Now Hiddink has a team of experienced
professionals, all of whom play in Europe's top leagues such as England's
Premier League, Italy's Serie A and Spain's Liga Primera.
Hiddink started off his career as a footballer in 1967 with De Graaschap in
Holland. He then played one season for PSV Eindhoven and became this club's
coach in 1997. His first international success came in 1988 as he won the UEFA
Champions League with PSV.
Ironically he lost the final of the Intercontinental Cup that same year to
Uruguayan side Nacional after a penalty shootout.
In 1995 Hiddink was appointed coach of his national team and got good results
as he made it to the semifinals of France 1998. He is used to coaching two teams
at the same time as also in that year he won the UEFA Champions league with Real
Madrid.
At the moment he is still manager of PSV Eindhoven as well as Australia, whom
he began directing in July 2005. How far will the men from Oz go in Germany?
Anything is possible with Guus Hiddink.
