Guus Hiddink Biography

Guus Hiddink, born 8 November 1946 in Varsseveld, Gelderland, is a Dutch former football player and football coach, who is currently in charge of the national team of Curaçao. Previously he played as a footballer for many Dutch clubs. He is famous as a successful coach of some of the strongest European clubs and several national teams.

At the club level, Hiddink is best known for his work with PSV, Fenerbahce, Valencia, Real Madrid, Real Betis and Chelsea: he won the European Cup with PSV in the 1987/1988 season and with Real Madrid, he won the Intercontinental Cup in 1998.

Hiddink is largely renowned for his work with national teams at major international tournaments. To mention just a few examples, Hiddink was the coach of the Netherlands national football team from 1996 to 1998, with which he advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1996 European Championship and finished 4th at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

He then coached South Korea in the 2002 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals and finishing 4th. Between 2005 and 2006 he was at the helm of the Australia national football team, which defeated Uruguay in a penalty shoot-out to reach the World Cup for the first time in 32 years and reach the knockout rounds for the first time in their history.

Between 2006 and 2010 he was head coach of the Russian team, with which he appeared at the European Championship in 2008, beating England in the group, and helped the team for the first time in 20 years to advance from the group stage, as well as taking third place at the European Championship.

All You Need to Know About Guus Hiddink Biography

Meanwhile, he failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup with the

. Later on, Hiddink coached Turkey, the Netherlands and the Chinese Olympic team, without having achieved any major success with them.

Guus Hiddink Information

Now that we know the Dutch coach much better, in this section of

Guus Hiddink biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Guus Hiddink nationality

to let you know him even better.

Guus Hiddink Bio

• Full Name: Guus Hiddink

• Nickname: Aussie Guus

• Profession: Professional Football Coach

Guus Hiddink Physical Stats

• Weight: 85 Kg

• Height: 1.78 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Grey

Guus Hiddink Football Information

• Position: Midfielder

• Jersey Number: 10

• Professional Debut: 1967

Guus Hiddink Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 8 November 1946

• Birth Place: Varsseveld, Netherlands

• Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

• Nationality: Dutch

Now stay tuned to this section of

Guus Hiddink biography

as we want to share some info about

Guus Hiddink childhood

.

Guus Hiddink Early Life

Hiddink was born and raised in the eastern Gelderland village of Varsseveld. In his childhood, he was playing football for the amateur club SC Varsseveld, of which he became a member at the age of 12. In those days, it was not possible to become a member any earlier. It turned out that Hiddink was a technically gifted left midfielder. At the age of 15, in May 1961, Hiddink made his debut in the first team of SC Varsseveld.

He put his studies above football and after a failed attempt to complete the Dutch High School (HBS), he started studying at the local CIOS-school. During his second year, Hiddink completed an internship at a professional football club and became the youth trainer at

.

After finishing the CIOS, Hiddink immediately became a certified football trainer and was awarded the B-diploma, which was the second-highest diploma at that time. After finishing the CIOS, Hiddink was named full-time youth coach and assistant coach by head coach Evert Teunissen.

De Graafschap was relegated to the second division in 1967 and a new head coach was appointed, Ad Zonderland. For a year, Hiddink did not play football anymore, but Zonderland included Hiddink in the player selection this time.

In 1969, after two years in the second division, De Graafschap won the title, with Hiddink as top scorer with 22 goals, and was promoted to the first division. After only one year in the first division, PSV purchased Hiddink. He stayed at PSV for one and a half years, but couldn't get a regular place in the team.

He returned after PSV to De Graafschap, where Piet de Visser was the coach at the time. At the same time, his younger brothers René and Karel were also added to the De Graafschap squad. René ultimately only played for De Graafschap and Karel later went on to play for FC Groningen and BV Veendam. In 1973, Hiddink returned to the first division, only to be promoted to the

.

After De Graafschap relegated in 1977, Hiddink joined N.E.C. After a few months in April 1978, he joined the Washington Diplomats (USA), after which he played for N.E.C. again. He then went on to play for a few months in the United States, this time for San Jose Earthquakes, before returning to N.E.C. again, to finish the last two years of his football career at De Graafschap.

Guus Hiddink Profile

Guus signed a contract with Doutingham FC's De Grafshap football team in 1982 while remaining the coach of the junior team at a special school for underdeveloped children. He worked as a school teacher for about 10 years until 1984.

Now stay tuned to this section of

Guus Hiddink biography

as we want to share some info about his coaching career at PSV.

PSV

Hiddink started his coaching career in 1987, taking charge of PSV where he had previously been a member of the coaching staff. In his first season at the helm, the coach managed to win the Dutch league title. During the 1987/1988 season, Hiddink's squad achieved a unique feat: PSV dominated the Dutch league and the Cup, and for the first (and only) time in their history, they also claimed the European Cup.

According to his own words, Hiddink was present at the 1988 European Championship final between the Netherlands and the USSR during his time as PSV manager: he was sitting behind Rinat Dasaev's goal when Marco van Basten scored his famous goal.

PSV were defeated by Portuguese side Benfica in the 1987/1988 European Cup final. In the following year, PSV won the league and cup double and were eliminated in the Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage. In 1990 PSV won another Dutch Cup, after which Hiddink left the team.

Fenerbahçe

Following his stint at PSV, Hiddink was appointed coach of Turkish club

. His contract was for two years with an option to leave after one year in case a Spanish or Italian club comes forward. By the time Hiddink signed a contract with

in the 1990/91 season, he was released from his job at Fenerbahçe.

Valencia

Hiddink won UEFA Cup with Valencia two years in a row in the 1991/92 and 1992/93 seasons. Early in his third season at Valencia, Hiddink faced problems due to disappointing results, and he was fired at the end of 1993. However, three months later, in February 1994, Valencia asked him to come back: following Hiddink's departure, the club had fallen seriously behind and was in danger of relegation.

Hiddink managed to keep Valencia in the Primera División, but he quit and took a break. During his three seasons in charge, he finished fourth and seventh in the Primera División standings twice. His passion for golf was born in Spain, where his hotel was located next to a golf course.

Dutch national team

Hiddink was named coach of the Dutch national football team on January 1, 1995. He replaced

, who left for PSV. He managed to qualify for the European Championship in England. After losing the match in and against Belarus, the Dutch team looked like they had no chance, but because of the Czech Republic's unexpected defeat against Luxembourg, the

maintained a place at the European Championships.

Through a play-off match against Ireland, played at Anfield Road, Holland qualified. They reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 1996. There, Hiddink faced a challenge with the players, a dispute between some black and white players of Ajax, which was to be the cause of the elimination.

was excluded from the squad by Hiddink during the tournament.

The qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup went well: they defeated Wales 1-3 and 7-1, Belgium 0-3 and 3-1 and San Marino 4-0 and 0-6. The only match lost was in and against Turkey (1-0). In the 1998 World Cup, the Netherlands came first in a group with Belgium, Mexico and

.

In the eighth final, they defeated Yugoslavia 2-1 and in the quarterfinals, they won against Argentina 2-1. However, in the semi-final, the Netherlands lost to Brazil after penalty kicks. They then lost the match for 3rd and 4th place against Croatia.

Now stay tuned to this section of Guus Hiddink biography as we want to share some info about his

career.

Real Madrid

In the summer of 1998, Hiddink became the manager of Real Madrid, where he won the Intercontinental Cup, however, because of poor results in the Spanish league, he was fired in February 1999 with the team in 6th place and sharing the last place with Salamanca in terms of conceded goals. Hiddink spent seven months of his two-year contract with the club, gaining the offensive nickname Blando (weakling) from the fans.

Hiddink, who was wearing a moustache, had promised Real Madrid fans that he would shave it off if the team won the Intercontinental Cup. They won and the head coach kept his promise. Since December 1998, he has not worn a moustache.

Real Betis

Hiddink took charge of

in 2000, with whom he was also unable to achieve top places in the league, and was dismissed the day after the defeat to Mallorca on 30 April (0-4). Real Betis had won just one match out of thirteen during Hiddink's tenure, and the team was relegated from the top division at the end of the 1999/2000 season.

The South Korean national team

Hiddink was appointed the head coach of the South Korea national team in early 2001. In 2002, the Republic of Korea and Japan hosted the World Cup. The Korean national team was the host nation for the tournament.

Hiddink, according to his own words, was able to train the national team for the World Cup as a club team: the Football Federation planned to change the course of the K-League so that the players would be available to Hiddink for at least three weeks in each month.

Therefore, Hiddink focused on the physical preparation of the Koreans, hoping to bring it to a level where Korea could wear down their opponents. Prior to the start of the World Cup, the Koreans' position in the FIFA rankings varied around 40th place.

Hiddink's idea of high physical effort was paired with the characteristics of the Korean mentality: in his words, Koreans were very hardworking and willing to suffer for a great cause, leading to Hiddink's eventual success at the 2002 World Cup.

Team Korea advanced out of the group, beating Poland (2-0) and Portugal (1-0) and then drawing against the USA (1-1). After defeating Italy 2-1 in the round of 16 and then beating Spain 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out, Korea's side was eventually defeated by Germany 0-1 in the semi-finals and finished in fourth place, losing 2-3 to

in the third-place playoff.

Hiddink recalled that the Koreans gave him a toss in the air more than once after their wins at the tournament, celebrating their success.

One reason for the success was the chance given to Hiddink, because of the special features of the state administration of football in Korea, to train with the national team for about three months before the final tournament of the World Cup; no other major national team in the world had such an opportunity.

Thanks to this, the physical condition of the Korean national team greatly exceeded the condition of all its opponents in the World Cup finals. After the tournament, Hiddink was crowned a national hero in Korea, with free use of various forms of transport, hotel accommodation, etc.

Following the national team's appearance in the World Cup semi-finals, Hiddink became Korea's first Honorary Citizen, was awarded a villa on Jeju Island, received free taxi rides in all cities in Korea, could fly for free on two major Korean airlines (Korean Air and Asiana Airlines). The Gwangju Stadium, where several World Cup matches were held in there, was renamed after Hiddink.

PSV

Hiddink came back to

in the summer of 2002. During the first season, Hiddink managed to win his fourth national title with the club. During his coaching career, the 2004-2005 season was very successful for him. He reached the semi-finals of the

with PSV.

Following the group stage, PSV beat AS Monaco in the round of 16 and Olympique Lyonnais in the quarterfinals. However, in the semi-finals, PSV failed against AC Milan, after a 2-0 loss in Milan and a 3-1 win in Eindhoven. The 2004/2005 season was concluded by winning the double, the national title and the Amstel Cup; Hiddink's third with PSV.

Hiddink won the national title with PSV for the sixth time in the 2005/2006 season. At the ceremony on the Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven, Hiddink was named honorary citizen of Eindhoven. In 2004/05 and 2005/06 Hiddink was elected Coach of the Year in professional football by the different Dutch football coaches, and in 2005 his performance was rewarded with the title Dutch Sports Coach of the Year.

Australia national team

Hiddink took over from Frank Farina, who stepped down as Australia's coach after the Australian team had failed at the Confederations Cup, having lost all three matches. Australia's team was challenged to qualify for the World Cup in Germany. The Aussies were so downbeat that they constantly asked Hiddink what he saw value in working with a team that had not been to a World Cup since 1974 and Hiddink replied that he wanted to go to the World Cup with them.

The core of the team was composed of players from European leagues, most of whom had played in England for clubs such as Middlesbrough (Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka), Newcastle (Craig Moore), Everton (Tim Cahill), Liverpool (Ahmed Elrich), Fulham (Stan Lazaridis) and Birmingham (Harry Kewell), but they lacked the necessary level of training. However, the president of the Football Federation of

, Frank Lowe, thought that the squad was powerful enough and all it needed was a good coach.

Over the course of his work, Hiddink was forced to get rid of a lot of "old-fashioned" habits of the Australians and teach them to play modern football. In their first leg of the playoff match, the Australians lost 0-1 to Uruguay in Montevideo.

Australia scored the only goal of the game on the evening of 16 November 2005, through Marco Bresciano in regulation time; the extra time tie was a scoreless one and the Australians won on penalties against Uruguay, qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1974.

In order to prepare for the clash, Hiddink heavily pressured the team in terms of physical preparation, even cancelling friendlies. Notably, he asked Mark Viduka and several other players to lose weight in four weeks, and Viduka obeyed the demand, losing three and a half kilograms. Hiddink felt that the English coaches had prepared the Australians very poorly, which contributed to their poor physical form.

The Australians were ranked in the top four of FIFA on the eve of the World Cup. They were drawn in Group F against Japan, Brazil and Croatia: in their first game, Australia was 0-1 down to Japan in the 35-degree heat, however, they only managed to score three times in the final three minutes to take a 3-1 lead.

During the second match, Australia lost 0-2 to Brazil, and in the third game, they achieved a draw against Croatia (2-2), making it into the knockout rounds from second place. In the round of 16, the Australians were defeated by Italy 0-1, with a penalty kick awarded in the extra time: the penalty kick was awarded in highly controversial circumstances. The Aussie's success was largely thanks to the work of Guus Hiddink: with proper fitness, the Australians looked like a serious side.

In Australia, Hiddink became very popular. The supporters at the national team matches displayed banners such as "No Guus, No Glory", "In Guus We Trust”. The high level of physical and tactical preparation and the informal atmosphere in the team played a vital part in the Aussies' emergence from the group: the players lacked the constant tension and were not shy when performing. Hiddink himself stated that the Australians were very ambitious with a not-so-stellar level of players.

Russia national team

On the 10th of April 2006, Hiddink declared in the Dutch television programme Holland Sport (VPRO) that he is going to be the national coach of Russia. Together with this team, he was able to beat England and thus significantly increase the chances for the European Championship qualification.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, congratulated Hiddink on this accomplishment. After the loss in Israel, the odds for Russia seemed gone, but following a sudden defeat of England against Croatia, Hiddink and the Russian team's win over Andorra meant that Russia qualified for the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland. Numerous newspapers nicknamed him "Guus Luck", owing to his special achievements with the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia and Russia.

Hiddink made it to the semi-finals of the 2008 European Championship, following a 3-1 victory against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Ahead of this victory, Hiddink said: "I hope to be the traitor of the year. That means we win", and when he was asked if he would join in singing the Dutch national anthem, his answer was: "I think Russia has a nice national anthem, as far as melody goes. I hum along to it a bit.”

The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev jokingly admitted the day after the victory that Hiddink would be able to become a Russian citizen in case he was no longer able to return to the Netherlands for 'security reasons. Before the match against the Netherlands, a statue of Guus Hiddink was revealed in a spa near Maloritshenske in the Crimea by Russian sculptor Yevgeny Jablonski.

Interim coach of Chelsea

On February 9, 2009, it was revealed that Hiddink, after approval of the Russian Football Federation, was permitted to talk with the board of the English club

, to become head coach of the club until at least the end of the season. In fact, on Wednesday, February 11, it was announced that Hiddink would officially start as interim coach at Chelsea.

He brought the team back to winning ways in the league, winning eleven times in thirteen matches. Because of that Chelsea finished the season in third place. In the Champions League, he was also successful by defeating Juventus in the round of 16 and Liverpool in the quarter-final following a dramatic draw at Stamford Bridge (4-4). In the semi-final, Barcelona looked as if they would be victims too, but well into injury time, Andres Iniesta scored 1-1, which meant that the semi-final was the end of the line again for the London club.

Hiddink managed Chelsea for the last time in a home game on 17 May 2009. The spectators chanted his name for almost the entire second half and at the end of the match, the players formed a line of honour for him. He ended the season on 30 May 2009 with a win in the FA Cup against Everton, thus winning the cup competition for the club.

Turkey

Hiddink took office as coach of the Turkish national football team on 1 August 2010. There Hiddink undertook the task of qualifying with the at that time number 39 in the FIFA world rankings for the 2012 European Championship.

Prior to joining the Turkey team, the Ivory Coast national team wanted Hiddink to go to the 2010 World Cup as interim coach with the African country. Nevertheless, the Dutchman declined the offer in order to prepare for the World Cup with Turkey. Hiddink and Turkey secured a play-off place for the European Championship on 11 October 2011.

After losing the home match against Croatia 3-0 and thus almost losing the chance for a place, Turkey drew in the second match. Straight after the elimination, his contract with Turkey was terminated.

Anzhi

Hiddink joined Russian club

on 17 February 2012 to take over as head coach and vice-president of the club's development. Anzhi played their first official game under the guidance of Hiddink on 5 March in a 1-0 win over Dynamo Moscow. Following the season the club finished fifth in the league, having secured itself a place in the Europa League.

During 2012 Hiddink led Anzhi to the Europa League knockout rounds, emerging from Group A in second place, after losing first place to England's Liverpool. Anzhi defeated Hannover in the round of 16 and lost in the quarterfinal to another club from the English Premier League, Newcastle.

Hiddink led Anzhi to third place in the Russian league in the 2012/2013 season, which was the first in the club's history. Anzhi also made it to the final of the Russian Cup for the second time in their history, when they lost on penalties to CSKA. Following the season, Hiddink renewed his contract for another season. He tendered his resignation as head coach on 22 July 2013, which was accepted by the club's management.

Return to Dutch national team

On 1 August 2014, Hiddink succeeded

as coach of the Dutch national team. In the first five matches of the qualifying campaign for the 2016 European Championship, the Netherlands collected seven points through a win over Kazakhstan, Latvia and a draw against Turkey. When the European Championship was over, Hiddink was to be succeeded by Danny Blind; Hiddink himself would then continue in a more advisory role.

However, on 29 June 2015, it was announced that Hiddink's contract would be terminated as of 1 July 2015, having recorded no more than four victories in ten international matches under his leadership. However, Hiddink subsequently revealed that he had indeed been sacked by the KNVB.

Return to Chelsea FC

After José Mourinho's sacking in December 2015 as Chelsea coach, Hiddink became his successor on 19 December that year. He was awarded a contract until the end of the season. During the first match under his management, on Saturday 26 December, Chelsea drew 2-2 against Watford on their own field.

The Brazilian Oscar missed a penalty in the final stage of the match for the Blues. This was followed two days later by a 0-0 draw against Manchester United under coach Louis van Gaal, before Hiddink achieved his first victory on 3 January 2016, when city rival Crystal Palace was beaten 3-0.

The team dropped out of all the cup competitions and came tenth in the English league, which was the worst result in the Roman Abramovich era. His second spell as Chelsea coach was not very successful as he only achieved 10 wins in a total of 27 matches.

China Under-21

Hiddink followed up his coaching career in Asia in September 2018 as head coach of China under 21 and 23. Together with the team, Hiddink was able to qualify for the 2019 Asian Championship for under-23 teams.

Curaçao

It was announced on 21 August 2020 that Hiddink would take up the position of national coach and technical director of Curaçao, where he succeeded Remko Bicentini, who did not seem to be informed that the federation was looking for a new national coach.

Now stay tuned to this section of Guus Hiddink biography as we want to share some info about his coaching style.

Style of Play

Hiddink is known as a devotee of attacking football: the formation of his team's players included various schemes, from playing three defenders (3-5-2 system) with no classical supporting midfielder, considered extremely risky and dangerous, to a four-defender system (4-5-1) with a powerful striker.

In tactical terms, Hiddink believed that pressing was "the foundation of the basics": in case the ball was lost or the attack was blown away, the team had to attack the opponent in the opponent's half of the pitch, instead of running swiftly towards goal. He was also in favour of his team's players not being compact in the middle of the pitch but making use of all the available space.

Reception

With all his achievements, especially at the international level in different teams of all sizes, Guus Hiddink has proved himself to be one of the best coaches in the history of Dutch football.

Guus Hiddink outside Football

Hiddink has claimed to be fluent in five languages: besides his native Dutch, he can speak English, German, French and Spanish, with Spanish being the last language that Hiddink learned fluently. He can speak Italian and Portuguese to a slightly lesser degree and possesses a basic grasp of Korean and Japanese.

During his childhood, one of Hiddink's hobbies was training hunting dogs, which he did with his grandfather: it is believed to have helped develop Hiddink's teaching talent. Hiddink also played great tennis in his training sessions in his spare time.

Guus Hiddink Personal Life

In this section of Guus Hiddink biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Guus Hiddink life story

and

Guus Hiddink religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

For a long time, Hiddink was in a relationship with Elisabeth Pinas, a Dutch woman of Surinamese origin. Elisabeth jokingly referred to herself as "the dictator in the family"; she did not readily agree to her husband's move to Russia, but her first visits allowed her to break down prejudices and stereotypes about Russia.

Hiddink's official wife is Ine Bömkes. The couple has two children together, Mark (born in 1972) and Michael (born in 1969).

Philanthropy

Besides his activities in sport, Guus Hiddink is also involved in social issues. He is the chairman of the Guus Hiddink Foundation, a charity that supports South Korean children, among other things. Johan Cruyff and the former President of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, were among the members of the Guus Hiddink Foundation.

Legal Issues

Hiddink was charged with tax fraud in 2006. He owned a house in the Belgian village of Achel in 2002 and 2003, where he was also registered, but the FIOD said he did not actually live there. The Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office claimed that as a result, Hiddink withheld € 3.5 million in income from Dutch tax. In January 2007 Hiddink stood trial before the court. The public prosecutor asked for a prison sentence of ten months on 6 February.

Guus Hiddink Career Statistics

In this section of Guus Hiddink biography, we will take a deeper look into his career stats, both as an international and club player.

Club

Between 1967 and 1982, Hiddink played a total of 317 league matches for many Dutch clubs and scored 16 goals as a left midfielder.

Managerial

He has a 57 percent win ratio with 469 wins, 180 draws and 173 defeats in a total of 822 matches during his career as of 15 June 2021.

Guus Hiddink Honors

His most notable awards and titles include Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, European Cup, Intercontinental Cup and FA Cup, among many others.

He has also won some individual awards like AFC Coach of the Year, World Soccer World Manager of the Year, Dutch Sports Coach of the Year and some others.

Read More:

Follow

 for