Barely a month after it was announced that Guus Hiddink is no longer technical director of Curacao, he has already found a new job. The 75-year-old national coach will assist Graham Arnold. Arnold prepares with Australia for the World Cup in Qatar.
Last year, Hiddink indicated in football talk show De Aftrap that they no longer had to call him to sit on the bench as national coach during the World Cup. “No, I have no ambition for that,” he said at the time. He did, however, want to remain active in football in ‘an advisory role’.
The NOS reports that Hiddink, as a ‘storyteller’ and inspirer, is in line with the Socceroos as those who practice September 22 and 25 against New Zealand. He temporarily replaces René Meulensteen, who watches Australia’s World Cup opponents in Europe. Australia will meet France, Denmark and Tunisia in the group stage at the World Cup.
In 2006 Hiddink qualified as Australia national coach for the World Cup in Germany. Arnold was his assistant at the time. Australia made it to the eighth finals, in which the country was eliminated by Italy.