Guus Hiddink
Date of birth: 08.11.1946
Guus Hiddink - Dutch football coach who previously played as a midfielder. Known as a successful coach for some of the strongest European clubs and national teams. At club level, Hiddink is known for his work at PSV, Fenerbahçe, Valencia, Real Madrid, Real Betis, and Chelsea: With PSV he won the European Cup of Champions in the 1987/1988 season, and with Real Madrid, he won the World Cup in 1998.
Place of birth. Born in Varsseveld (Netherlands).
Playing career. From 1967 to 1969 he played for De Graafschap, a team in the first division of the Netherlands. In 1970, Guus Hiddink was signed by PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), with whom he would later celebrate great successes.
From 1977 to 1981, Guus played for NEC in Germany, who loaned him twice: first to the Washington Diplomats in 1978 and then to the San Jose Earthquakes in 1980.
1967-1970 - De Graafschap (Netherlands).
1970-1971 - PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands).
1972-1977 - De Graafschap (Netherlands).
1977-1978 - NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands).
1978 - Washington Diplomats (USA).
1978-1980 - NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands).
1980 - San Jose Earthquakes (USA).
Coaching career. In 1981, Guus Hiddink became the assistant coach of De Graafschap, and in 1984 he was appointed assistant coach of PSV Eindhoven.
1983-1987 - PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), assistant coach.
1987-1990 - PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), head coach.
1990-1991 - Fenerbahçe, Istanbul (Turkey), head coach.
After a brief stint at Fenerbahçe in Turkey, Guus was the coach of Valencia for three years.
From 1994 to 1998, he coached the Netherlands national team.
From 1998 to 1999, he led Real Madrid, worked for a month at Betis, and then became the coach of the South Korean national team, with whom he reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2002.
In 2002, Hiddink returned as head coach of PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Under his leadership, the club became Dutch champions five times, won the cup four times, and was the winner of the Dutch Super Cup in 2003, as well as the European Cup in 1987-1988.
In 2005, Hiddink simultaneously took over the Australian national team, leading them to the World Cup finals in 2006 in Germany.
From 2006 to 2010, he was the head coach of the Russian national team.
In 2008, Hiddink was awarded the title of Honored Coach of Russia.
After the Russian national team missed the qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, rumors emerged that Hiddink would not extend his contract with the RFU, which was set to expire in July 2010. In February 2010, the new RFU president Sergei Fursenko openly stated that Hiddink's contract would not be extended. This information was confirmed by the coach himself on February 13.
On February 14, 2010, the Dutch coach signed a contract with the Turkish national team, officially starting as head coach on August 1, 2010. Under his guidance, the Turks fought in the qualification for the 2012 UEFA European Championship.
From December 19, 2015, Hiddink served as the interim head coach of Chelsea until the end of the season.
On September 1, 2020, Hiddink took charge of the national team of Curaçao. The contract was initially set to last until the end of the 2022 World Cup. However, on September 9, 2021, Hiddink announced the end of his coaching career.
On September 25, 2022, he made a temporary return and was present as an assistant coach of Graham Arnold in the friendly match against New Zealand (2-0).
Achievements. Guus Hiddink was the first coach in history to lead two different teams into the semi-finals of the World Cup: the Netherlands national team in 1998 and the South Korean national team in 2002.
At the 2006 World Cup, he led the Australian national team, which participated in the World Cup for the first time in 32 years under his leadership and successfully reached the knockout stage.
In 2008, the Russian national team, which he coached, unexpectedly reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European Championship, achieving the best result in the last 20 years.
25.10.2023.