Dutch masters to shine in Germany

Next year’s FIFA World Cup will mark a first for the Netherlands as they will be represented not only by their national team in Germany, but by four Dutch coaches.

Van Basten debut
Marco van Basten, who earned 58 caps and scored 24 goals in a glittering international playing career, will lead the Netherlands in his first World Cup as a coach having guided the former European champions through a qualifying group that included the Czech Republic and Romania with an impressive unbeaten record.

Advocaat follows Hiddink
Van Basten will be joined by three veterans of international coaching, with 58-year-old Dick Advocaat among them. Advocaat has twice managed the Netherlands, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup and the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2004™, and has also enjoyed successful spells in club management, most notably with Rangers FC. He was appointed coach of the Korean Republic in September this year and follows in the footsteps of compatriot Guus Hiddink who led them to the World Cup semi-finals as co-hosts in 2002.

Much-travelled Hiddink
Germany 2006 will be Hiddink’s third World Cup as a coach and he will be in charge of his third different nation, Australia. The Socceroos qualified for their first World Cup since 1974 in dramatic style with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win against Uruguay after their two-legged play-off had ended in a 1-1 draw. The coach of PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie, Hiddink became a national hero in the Korean Republic when he guided them to the last four in 2002 and also came close when he led the Netherlands to the semi-finals at France '98.

Beenhakker makes history
On the same day Hiddink’s Australia secured qualification, 63-year-old Leo Beenhakker completed a remarkable feat by guiding Trinidad and Tobago to their first ever World Cup finals with a tense 1-0 play-off victory against Bahrain. Beenhakker’s previous World Cup experience came in 1990 when he presided over a Netherlands team that included Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Ronald Koeman, but could not prevent them from falling to defeat against eventual winners West Germany in the second phase.

Preparation vital
Beenhakker is aware he faces a very different task when he leads Trinidad and Tobago in Germany but insists it is a challenge he is relishing. He said: “We have certain issues that need to be resolved if we want to prepare properly but I am looking forward to the next six months as we build up to the World Cup.”