37 Facts About Guus Hiddink

Guus Hiddink is a Dutch former football manager and professional player.

Guus Hiddink enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands.

Guus Hiddink was born in Varsseveld and started his career as a player in the youth side of amateur club SC Varsseveld.

Guus Hiddink turned professional after signing on for Dutch club De Graafschap in 1967.

Guus Hiddink played at the Doetinchem club under manager Piet de Visser.

Guus Hiddink spent most of his playing career at De Graafschap, including three years under de Visser, and remains a fan of the club.

Guus Hiddink joined PSV in 1970, but after failing to win a permanent position in the team, he rejoined De Graafschap after just one year and remained there until 1977.

Guus Hiddink generally played as a midfielder during his playing days.

Guus Hiddink took over in March 1987, whilst the team was trailing by three points behind Ajax with ten matches remaining in the league.

Guus Hiddink won three Eredivisie titles with the club in between 1987 and 1990.

Guus Hiddink has final responsibility, but always shares it with the team around him.

Guus Hiddink had a coaching stint at Turkish club Fenerbahce in 1990, but was dismissed after one year, later joining Spanish giants Valencia.

Guus Hiddink faced his biggest managerial challenge when he took over the reins of the Netherlands national team on 1 January 1995, where he took charge of a team of talented individuals continually racked by internal arguments and disputes.

Guus Hiddink took a firm approach to the team, an example of which was demonstrated at UEFA Euro 1996 when Edgar Davids was sent home after an argument with Guus Hiddink.

Guus Hiddink was able to prevent further internal conflict in the 1998 FIFA World Cup where his team played some of the more entertaining football in that tournament.

Guus Hiddink became manager of Spanish La Liga side Real Madrid in the summer of 1998, replacing Jupp Heynckes, but poor league form and off-pitch remarks about the board and finances of the club prompted his termination in February 1999.

Guus Hiddink then took over the reins at Spanish club Real Betis in 2000 for the rest of the season.

However, Guus Hiddink began focusing on physical fitness for players during training in preparation for the World Cup later that year.

Guus Hiddink became the first-ever person to be given honorary South Korean citizenship.

Guus Hiddink chose to return to his native country and took over the coaching duties at PSV Eindhoven in 2002.

On 22 July 2005, Guus Hiddink became manager of the Australia national team.

Guus Hiddink announced he would manage both PSV and Australia at the same time.

Guus Hiddink is credited with turning a team which conceded many goals under Frank Farina into a solid defensive unit which only conceded one goal away from home to both Uruguay and the Netherlands.

On 10 April 2006, Guus Hiddink announced on Dutch television that he would take over as manager of the Russia national team.

However, after a win against Andorra, and England losing out to Croatia on the last match day, Russia and Guus Hiddink secured qualification for the final stages of Euro 2008.

In March 2008 Guus Hiddink had already chosen to exercise the two-year extension with Russia, keeping him in the national team's head coaching role until 2010.

On 13 February 2010, it was confirmed that Guus Hiddink would leave the position when his contract expired on 30 June.

Guus Hiddink was visibly pleased at winning the Cup, and in subsequent interviews claimed it was one of his biggest achievements.

On 16 February 2010, Turkish Football Federation President Mahmut Ozgener and Guus Hiddink held talks in Amsterdam.

Guus Hiddink agreed to coach the Turkey national team after his contract with Russia expired on 30 June 2010.

On 17 February 2012, Guus Hiddink agreed an 18-month deal to manage Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala, his first permanent club post in six years.

On 11 June 2013, Guus Hiddink decided to extend his contract by one more year at Anzhi.

Guus Hiddink said he left because he completed his mission, which he said was to develop Anzhi in a way that it could progress without him.

Guus Hiddink agreed to manage the team up to UEFA Euro 2016, with Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy assisting him and Blind to eventually replace him.

On 21 August 2020, Guus Hiddink was appointed manager of the Curacao national team.

On 9 September 2021, Guus Hiddink officially stepped down as head coach of Curacao and announced his managerial retirement at the age of 74.

Guus Hiddink came out of retirement to assist his former Socceroos assistant, Graham Arnold, for Australia's two-match friendly series against New Zealand, as regular assistant coach Rene Meulensteen was scouting the Socceroos' Qatar 2022 opponents in Europe.