Erik said:
RED HOT DUTCH
Guus Hiddink has qualified for his third successive World Cup with a different team from a different continent. No need to get excited. Amy Lawrence reports
Sunday November 20, 2005
The Observer
A week in the life of Guus Hiddink: Montevideo, Sydney, Waalwijk. It entailed the best part of two whole days on aeroplanes, 20 time zones, three football matches, one epiphanic sporting moment that turned him into an instant hero in Australia, and an injection of normality as he got on with the day job at an away game in front of a crowd of a few thousand in the Dutch provinces. And he managed this without a bead of sweat on his brow. No problem.
The Australians, rather like the South Koreans before them, are quite overwhelmed by this man, who is not only expert at his job but also appears to be a Zen master. During the penalty shoot-out in Sydney's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, which Australia won 4-2, Hiddink was serenity itself, while the Aussies, to borrow a phrase penned by journalist Peter Lalor, 'carried on like complete sheilas'.
And so, with trademark cool, a coach who is arguably more special than Jose Mourinho booked a ticket to his third successive World Cup - each with a different country from a different continent. Both Holland in 1998 and South Korea in 2002 reached the semi-finals and played eye-catching football. If Hiddink emulates that feat with the Socceroos in 2006 then Mourinho really will have to consider conceding his self-appointed title.
At a World Cup where almost half of the contestants will be managed by foreign coaches, Hiddink's accomplishment, alongside the miracle performed by Leo Beenhakker with Trinidad and Tobago and Dick Advocaat's work with South Korea, means Holland provide four coaches to next summer's finals. Marco van Basten takes charge of the Oranje in competition with three predecessors who have led their country to a World Cup finals.
It is an impressive record for a coaching school that is universally admired and travels well. The Dutch quartet bound for Germany are closely followed by a trio each from Brazil, Argentina and France. And how many British managers will be putting their expertise to better use than punditry? None.
According to Holland's coaching association, there is a big demand for the services of their members. There are currently 90 Dutch managers working abroad, from the legendary Frank Rijkaard scaling artistic heights at Barcelona to an ordinary pro working with the rawest material in Afghanistan. The Netherlands may be a small country, but it has a production line of football missionaries spreading the word in all corners of the globe. By nature they are flexible, linguists, travellers, and have the necessary ego to tell people that their way is the right way.
Where Hiddink scores extra points is charisma. He won over the Australian players immediately just by being daring, interesting and knowing. An example: when they arrived in Uruguay, with hundreds of noisy locals waiting to give them a hostile reception, the media were ready to fuel the fire. 'I just want to say how proud I am to bring a team to the first country to hold the World Cup,' said Hiddink. The Uruguayans were disarmed. The tension disappeared. The players were impressed.
Another example: During their training camp in Buenos Aires, Diego Maradona phoned Hiddink to wish him luck, and invite him to a Copa Libertadores match that evening. Hiddink replied that he'd love to but he was with his team. The next thing they knew, the whole Socceroos squad were on a VIP trip to watch the match as guests of Maradona.
After the first leg of their play-off, which they lost 1-0, the Australians landed on home soil on Monday morning with two days to prepare for the all-important second leg. 'You are all free until Tuesday lunchtime,' announced Hiddink. The breather, the liberty, did the players the power of good. Hiddink's man-management skills take some beating.
There is something in the Dutch mentality that inspires this desire to travel the world and breed a better style of football. De Telegraaf's Youri van den Busken sums it up: 'We are a small country but we have big ideas. Want to make a difference and be creative. We don't like to be a grey mouse.'
Dutch football's coaches are all disciples of Rinus Michels, who died earlier this year. 'The General', the pioneer of total football and the man Fifa chose as coach of the century in 1999, when Michels introduced a professional approach to the game in Holland he created a timeless philosophy. 'Rinus Michels was the one who made the big change,' says Johan Cruyff. 'Michels never taught me how to control a ball. Nobody did. But he knew the efforts required to make football a team game.'
Martin Jol recalls how Michels was both friend and master. 'When he was with the players in a hotel, he was typically Dutch - singing, drinking and enjoying a beer with them. They loved him,' the Tottenham boss says. 'But the next day he was working with them and was a disciplinarian, and they had a lot of respect for him.'
It is this combination - teaching the benefits of a work ethic and a team game, inspiring dedication and affection from his charges - that makes the Dutch model particularly suitable to countries that lack a footballing structure. The difference Hiddink made to South Korea and now Australia is a case in point. He demands organisation. Guile. Intelligence. He gets it pretty quickly.
'It's difficult because sometimes they are overexcited and they are so committed,' Hiddink noted of the Australians before their encounter with Uruguay. 'We have to look for balance in their commitment, but if you're overcommitted you can forget what your task is during the game.' The Dutch have a saying: simplicity makes the master.
Hiddink didn't have much time to put across his message. The Australia job is moonlighting (his main employers, PSV Eindhoven, lead both the Eredivisie and their Champions League group, so their needs can't be ignored), and he took it on only at the last moment. After considerable persuasion, he signed two contracts. One ended at midnight after the play-offs. The next was activated as soon as John Aloisi scored the winning penalty, and continues until the Socceroos bow out of the World Cup.
Captain mark Viduka is bowled over by Hiddink. 'As far as I am concerned, Guus was the missing link for us. He was the leader we needed. He is a tactical genius. Everything he does has a purpose and it makes you feel so comfortable as a player.'
It has somehow been decreed (by the tabloids at least) that England's next head coach must be from the mother country. Why? Hiddink's impeccable credentials surely challenge this notion. Whether he is available when Sven-Goran Eriksson hangs up his three-lioned blazer is questionable, but both his current employers will do well to hang on to the man the Dutch admire, the Koreans wanted as president and the Aussies lovingly call 'Goose'.
-------------------------
Number of Holland World Cup managers taking teams to Germany: 4
Beenhakker (Holland 1990, Trindad & Tobago 2006)
Advocaat (Holland 1994, S Korea 2006)
Hiddink (Holland 1998, S Korea 2002, Australia 2006)
Van Basten (Holland 2006)
Louis van Gaal failed to qualify in 2002 and is now manager of AZ Alkmaar
The Wanderers: Nationalities of this summer's World Cup coaches
4 Holland
3 Brazil, Argentina, France
2 Sweden, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro
Brit free zone: Decline of British World Cup coaches
1990: 3 Robson, Charlton, Roxbrough
1994: 2 Charlton, Hodgson
1998: 1 Hoddle
2002: 1/2 (Mick McCarthy was born in Barnsley but is an Irishman)
2006: 0
Source: The Guardian
-------------------------
Interesting stuff imo, just wanted to share it with you. How would you compare Hiddink to Mourinho?
Guus Hiddink has qualified for his third successive World Cup with a different team from a different continent. No need to get excited. Amy Lawrence reports
Sunday November 20, 2005
The Observer
A week in the life of Guus Hiddink: Montevideo, Sydney, Waalwijk. It entailed the best part of two whole days on aeroplanes, 20 time zones, three football matches, one epiphanic sporting moment that turned him into an instant hero in Australia, and an injection of normality as he got on with the day job at an away game in front of a crowd of a few thousand in the Dutch provinces. And he managed this without a bead of sweat on his brow. No problem.
The Australians, rather like the South Koreans before them, are quite overwhelmed by this man, who is not only expert at his job but also appears to be a Zen master. During the penalty shoot-out in Sydney's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday, which Australia won 4-2, Hiddink was serenity itself, while the Aussies, to borrow a phrase penned by journalist Peter Lalor, 'carried on like complete sheilas'.
And so, with trademark cool, a coach who is arguably more special than Jose Mourinho booked a ticket to his third successive World Cup - each with a different country from a different continent. Both Holland in 1998 and South Korea in 2002 reached the semi-finals and played eye-catching football. If Hiddink emulates that feat with the Socceroos in 2006 then Mourinho really will have to consider conceding his self-appointed title.
At a World Cup where almost half of the contestants will be managed by foreign coaches, Hiddink's accomplishment, alongside the miracle performed by Leo Beenhakker with Trinidad and Tobago and Dick Advocaat's work with South Korea, means Holland provide four coaches to next summer's finals. Marco van Basten takes charge of the Oranje in competition with three predecessors who have led their country to a World Cup finals.
It is an impressive record for a coaching school that is universally admired and travels well. The Dutch quartet bound for Germany are closely followed by a trio each from Brazil, Argentina and France. And how many British managers will be putting their expertise to better use than punditry? None.
According to Holland's coaching association, there is a big demand for the services of their members. There are currently 90 Dutch managers working abroad, from the legendary Frank Rijkaard scaling artistic heights at Barcelona to an ordinary pro working with the rawest material in Afghanistan. The Netherlands may be a small country, but it has a production line of football missionaries spreading the word in all corners of the globe. By nature they are flexible, linguists, travellers, and have the necessary ego to tell people that their way is the right way.
Where Hiddink scores extra points is charisma. He won over the Australian players immediately just by being daring, interesting and knowing. An example: when they arrived in Uruguay, with hundreds of noisy locals waiting to give them a hostile reception, the media were ready to fuel the fire. 'I just want to say how proud I am to bring a team to the first country to hold the World Cup,' said Hiddink. The Uruguayans were disarmed. The tension disappeared. The players were impressed.
Another example: During their training camp in Buenos Aires, Diego Maradona phoned Hiddink to wish him luck, and invite him to a Copa Libertadores match that evening. Hiddink replied that he'd love to but he was with his team. The next thing they knew, the whole Socceroos squad were on a VIP trip to watch the match as guests of Maradona.
After the first leg of their play-off, which they lost 1-0, the Australians landed on home soil on Monday morning with two days to prepare for the all-important second leg. 'You are all free until Tuesday lunchtime,' announced Hiddink. The breather, the liberty, did the players the power of good. Hiddink's man-management skills take some beating.
There is something in the Dutch mentality that inspires this desire to travel the world and breed a better style of football. De Telegraaf's Youri van den Busken sums it up: 'We are a small country but we have big ideas. Want to make a difference and be creative. We don't like to be a grey mouse.'
Dutch football's coaches are all disciples of Rinus Michels, who died earlier this year. 'The General', the pioneer of total football and the man Fifa chose as coach of the century in 1999, when Michels introduced a professional approach to the game in Holland he created a timeless philosophy. 'Rinus Michels was the one who made the big change,' says Johan Cruyff. 'Michels never taught me how to control a ball. Nobody did. But he knew the efforts required to make football a team game.'
Martin Jol recalls how Michels was both friend and master. 'When he was with the players in a hotel, he was typically Dutch - singing, drinking and enjoying a beer with them. They loved him,' the Tottenham boss says. 'But the next day he was working with them and was a disciplinarian, and they had a lot of respect for him.'
It is this combination - teaching the benefits of a work ethic and a team game, inspiring dedication and affection from his charges - that makes the Dutch model particularly suitable to countries that lack a footballing structure. The difference Hiddink made to South Korea and now Australia is a case in point. He demands organisation. Guile. Intelligence. He gets it pretty quickly.
'It's difficult because sometimes they are overexcited and they are so committed,' Hiddink noted of the Australians before their encounter with Uruguay. 'We have to look for balance in their commitment, but if you're overcommitted you can forget what your task is during the game.' The Dutch have a saying: simplicity makes the master.
Hiddink didn't have much time to put across his message. The Australia job is moonlighting (his main employers, PSV Eindhoven, lead both the Eredivisie and their Champions League group, so their needs can't be ignored), and he took it on only at the last moment. After considerable persuasion, he signed two contracts. One ended at midnight after the play-offs. The next was activated as soon as John Aloisi scored the winning penalty, and continues until the Socceroos bow out of the World Cup.
Captain mark Viduka is bowled over by Hiddink. 'As far as I am concerned, Guus was the missing link for us. He was the leader we needed. He is a tactical genius. Everything he does has a purpose and it makes you feel so comfortable as a player.'
It has somehow been decreed (by the tabloids at least) that England's next head coach must be from the mother country. Why? Hiddink's impeccable credentials surely challenge this notion. Whether he is available when Sven-Goran Eriksson hangs up his three-lioned blazer is questionable, but both his current employers will do well to hang on to the man the Dutch admire, the Koreans wanted as president and the Aussies lovingly call 'Goose'.
-------------------------
Number of Holland World Cup managers taking teams to Germany: 4
Beenhakker (Holland 1990, Trindad & Tobago 2006)
Advocaat (Holland 1994, S Korea 2006)
Hiddink (Holland 1998, S Korea 2002, Australia 2006)
Van Basten (Holland 2006)
Louis van Gaal failed to qualify in 2002 and is now manager of AZ Alkmaar
The Wanderers: Nationalities of this summer's World Cup coaches
4 Holland
3 Brazil, Argentina, France
2 Sweden, Croatia, Serbia & Montenegro
Brit free zone: Decline of British World Cup coaches
1990: 3 Robson, Charlton, Roxbrough
1994: 2 Charlton, Hodgson
1998: 1 Hoddle
2002: 1/2 (Mick McCarthy was born in Barnsley but is an Irishman)
2006: 0
Source: The Guardian
-------------------------
Interesting stuff imo, just wanted to share it with you. How would you compare Hiddink to Mourinho?
Dont get your panties in a twist Erik, Bora Milutinović did it with 5 national teams, if I remember correctly, they were USA, Mexico, Nigeria, Costa Rica. All of them except China reached the second round.
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