SYDNEY: Bert van Marwijk will take the Socceroos to the World Cup in Russia, Football Federation Australia announced on Thursday following Ange Postecoglou’s sudden resignation from the top job late last year.
Dutchman Van Marwijk, who led Saudi Arabia to World Cup qualification before leaving in September last year over a contract dispute, was one of the leading foreign candidates to take on the short-term coaching stint.
“This is a great result for Australian football,” FFA chairman Steven Lowy said in a statement.
“He knows a lot about our team and how they play because he studied them closely as an opposition manager in the same (World Cup qualifying) group. These experiences make him a compelling choice.
“In Bert van Marwijk we have a manager who can achieve great things with this team.”
The 65-year-old took the Netherlands to the World Cup final in 2010 and has also coached Dutch club Feyenoord and Bundesliga sides Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg.
Van Marwijk said the Australians “are not going to Russia just to be competitive”, adding: “I want to win our matches.”
Van Marwijk is not the first Dutchman to coach the Socceroos, with Guus Hiddink and Pim Verbeek previously taking the reins.
The Socceroos have been drawn in Group C of the World Cup together with France, Denmark and Peru, with their first game against Les Bleus on June 16. — AFP
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