Turkey pulled off a great move this past week by securing the services of Dutchman Guus Hiddink through the Euro 2012 qualifiers. If everything goes well, Hiddink will guide Turkey through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After reported links with Juventus, Liverpool and the Nigerian national team, the move was a bit of a surprise, particularly considering how quickly this deal was done. Hiddink’s appointment greatly elevates Turkey’s prospects for its upcoming qualification campaign in Germany’s group.
As great a manager as he is, Hiddink has never actually won a big trophy. “Lucky Guus,” however, has the magical touch in getting the absolute most out of his players. He is genial at putting together an exciting, courageous, attacking brand of football, coming pridefully close to seemingly impossible achievements. He guided the Dutch national team to an unlucky semifinal loss against Brazil in 1994 and a previously unheralded South Korea to the quarterfinals in 2002. He lead a gritty Australia to an undeserved quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Italy at the 2006 World Cup and took Russia to the semifinal of the Euro 2008. Even his six month expedition as Chelsea care-taker was a great success. The players loved playing for him and provided top performances.
Russia was merely the latest chapter in Hiddink’s storied cross-continent career. Money had a lot to do with Guus taking the Russian job – his $7 million a year salary was paid by Roman Abramovich. But also fitting was the opportunity to take a house in disarray and build a new program. Despite the fact that Russia missed out on South Africa, Hiddink’s accomplishments in Russia should be reflected in a revamped version of professionalism and attitude in Russia. His player development, including Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, Zhirkov and Bilyalednikov, should also have a lasting impact.
The only other known manager who has moved around the world more than Guus might be Bora Milutinovic. After successful stints with the Mexico, Costa Rica, USA, Nigeria and China national teams, at last check Bora was involved with Iraq in the Confederations Cup last summer, then working in Qatar. Should these two run into each other, they will have plenty to talk about.
