10 things you need to know about Guus Hiddink
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Guus Hiddink profile: 10 things you need to know about the Chelsea target
Trophies, cooking and tax fraud
Russia manager Guus Hiddink is in talks with Chelsea about taking charge until the end of the season.
Here's the lowdown on the man set to follow Luiz Felipe Scolari into the Stamford Bridge hotseat, temporarily at least.
1) Guus Hiddink was born on 8 November 1946 in Varsseveld, Holland.
2) After playing for amateur club SC Varsseveld he turned professional with De Graafschap in 1967, where he spent three spells as a midfielder.
3) Hiddink spent 18 months playing in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, turning out for Washington Diplomats and San Jose Earthquakes.
4) Hiddink’s major club success has come with PSV Eindhoven. He only spent two seasons there as a player, but he has had two spells as manager. He graduated from assistant to boss in 1987, winning the league three times and claiming PSV’s first and so far only European Cup crown in 1988 – part of a Treble. He returned for round two in 2002 after his World Cup exploits with South Korea, claiming another three league titles and a fourth Dutch Cup. He is the most successful Dutch coach in history.
5) He had a close call with British football in 2000 – Celtic pursued him to replace the failed John Barnes. BBC Scotland and STV had both already announced the Real Betis boss was heading for Parkhead – but the PLC board pushed through Martin O’Neill’s recruitment from Leicester instead.
6) Hiddink has taken four teams to the finals of major international tournaments, most recently getting Russia to Euro 2008 at the expense of Steve McClaren’s England, where he guided them to the semi-finals. His other knockout successes are: Netherlands (1998 World Cup semi-finals), South Korea (2002 World Cup semi-finals) and Australia (2006 World Cup second round).
7) Korean Air, the national airline, gave Hiddink free first class travel for four years after the national side’s World Cup success. The World Cup stadium in Gwangju was renamed Guus Hiddink stadium, stamps and statues were produced and 16 biographies were written in his honour. Back in Holland a museum dedicated to Hiddink was opened in his home town. Popular for the first two years, the museum closed in 2005 and is now being demolished. And Hiddink is still giving something back – the Guus Hiddink foundation helps deprived children in South Korea.
8) Manchester United fans should also be grateful to Hiddink for the impact he had on Park Ji-Sung at PSV and with the national team. Park credits Hiddink with making him the player he is after a dressing room pep talk, and the United man clearly loves his old boss’s cooking too…
9) Hiddink has previous experience of looking after two teams at once after continuing to manage PSV Eindhoven while also guiding Australia to the 2006 World Cup.
10) Hiddink was given a six month suspended sentence in 2007 after being found guilty of tax fraud. He was accused of evading £940,000 in Dutch taxes by claiming he was resident in Belgium from 2002-2003. He was fined £30,000.
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Wow, 4 years, first class on korean air for free
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what are they expecting from him with only 13 matches to go?
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Originally posted by dragg:
what are they expecting from him with only 13 matches to go?
13 matches, potential 39 points.... -
kk
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eh 4 years meh?
i thought there was a report saying its FOR LIFE?
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Originally posted by gunner77:
eh 4 years meh?
i thought there was a report saying its FOR LIFE?
I think its... can be a Korean citizen for life is it...4 year a lot liao and if he wants it again must go back and coach them to the semi-finals again lor when the WC comes around again every 4 yrs... lol