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| Monday, July 8, 2002 15:26 EST |
Dutchman led South Korea to World Cup semifinals
[Reuters]
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands -- Guus Hiddink, who
took South Korea to the World Cup semifinals, is to return as
coach to Dutch first division side PSV Eindhoven.
"Guus Hiddink has given a definitive answer and will coach
the club's first team for the next two seasons," PSV Eindhoven
said in a statement on Monday.
Hiddink, 55, coached South Korea for 18 months. The team beat
Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain and finished fourth in the
best World Cup showing by an Asian team in the tournament's
72-year history.
PSV Eindhoven is the club that gave Hiddink his start as an
assistant coach in 1983. He had played there and went on to
become head coach, leading the team to the Dutch League championship
three times and to the European Cup in 1988.
"It's good to be back and to work with a warm and ambitious
club. Those were the most important reasons for me to come
back," Hiddink told a news conference. "I'm a happy coach."
Hiddink coached Fenerbahce in Turkey and Spain's Valencia
before taking over the Dutch national team in 1995. He then
coached in Spain at Real Madrid and Real Betis before taking the
South Korea job in December 2000.
Hiddink, whose coaching contract with South Korea ended
after the Asian side's third place playoff defeat by Turkey,
confirmed that he would maintain ties by serving as an adviser
to South Korea as it prepares for the next finals.
Asked if he would return to train Korea after his PSV stint,
he replied: "A lot can happen in soccer in two years."
PSV President Harry van Raaij expressed delight at the
return of Hiddink, who will begin his new job on August 1 after
taking a holiday.
"You see before you a particularly proud PSV president
because we have managed to get Guus Hiddink back to where he
started his very successful career," Van Raaij told reporters.
Hiddink won huge popularity in South Korea, and was recently
awarded its top sports medal and honorary citizenship.
South Korea fans wore "I love Hiddink" T-shirts throughout
the World Cup and roared every time his face flashed across
stadium screens.
His success prompted a book on his management style,
something pundits urged the government and companies to emulate
and captured in a simple play on his name: "He think".
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