The Dutch coach and former professional footballer Guus Hiddink was born on 8 November 1946 in Varsseveld, the Netherlands.
Guus spent most of his playing career at De Graafschap featuring also for such Dutch clubs as PSV Eindhoven and NEC Nijmegen, and American sides Washington Diplomats and San Jose Earthquakes.
Hiddink took up coaching in 1982 when he was appointed an assistant manager at De Graafschap and then at PSV Eindhoven. His coaching career picked up steam when he became a head coach at PSV. Hiddink became a cult hero for the club after the team won the Treble (the Dutch league Eredivisie, the Dutch Cup and the UEFA Champions League) in 1988.
Between 1994 and 1998, Guus Hiddink was the Netherlands national team supremo. He helped the squad to reach the UEFA Euro 1996 quarter-finals and finish fourth in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Apart from his native Netherlands, Hiddink coached the South Korean, Australian, Turkish and Russian national teams. Under the Dutch supremo, South Korea became the first Asian team to climb up to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, as they finished fourth in the 2002 edition. It was to Hiddink’s immense credit that Russia broke into the UEFA Euro semi-final in 2008.
Guus Hiddink took over such teams as Turkish Fenerbahçe, Spanish Valencia, Real Betis and giant Real Madrid. He also was a caretaker at Chelsea.
In 2012 the Dutch specialist was offered a lucrative contract with a promising Russian side Anzhi and guided the team to bronze medals of the Premier League. Hiddink resigned in the summer 2013.
In the summer 2014 Hiddink replaced Louis Van Gaal at the helm of the Netherlands national team.
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