Guus Hiddink

Hiddink was born in Varsseveld and started his career as a player in the youth side of amateur club SC Varsseveld. He turned professional after signing for Dutch club De Graafschap in 1967, playing at the Doetinchem club under manager Piet de Visser. In 1973, during Hiddink's second spell there, he and manager de Visser earned promotion to the Eredivisie, the top league in Dutch football. For some years the careers of the two men intersected: when Hiddink managed PSV Eindhoven, De Visser scouted numerous South American players for the team, such as Ronaldo, Romário, and former Chelsea defender Alex. Also, De Visser, in his role as personal advisor to Roman Abramovich, was influential in bringing Hiddink to the Russia national team and later to Chelsea as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari. Hiddink spent most of his playing career at De Graafschap, including three years under de Visser, and remains a fan of the club. He joined PSV in 1970, but after failing to win a permanent position in the team, rejoined De Graafschap after just one year and remained there until 1977. In 1981, he rejoined De Graafschap again and retired a year later. Generally he played as a midfielder.

PSV Eindhoven

Hiddink honed his coaching skills as assistant manager at PSV Eindhoven from 1983 until he was appointed manager there in March 1987. When he took command, the club was three points behind Ajax in the league, with ten matches remaining. PSV, however, managed to win the championship six points ahead of Ajax. It was at PSV where he led the team to its first ever European Cup triumph in 1988 (and The Treble), affirming the Eindhoven club's ranking as one of the three giants of Dutch football, alongside rivals Ajax and Feyenoord. He also won three Eredivisie titles with the club between 1987 and 1990. "Hiddink will never take all the credit for himself, he will also involve his staff in it. That adds to the strong sense of unity. Hiddink has final responsibility, but always shares it with the team around him. He is a real team player", said Berry van Aerle, who was coached by Hiddink in two separate periods with PSV. Overall, Hiddink's PSV side won three consecutive Eredivisie titles, three consecutive KNVB Cups and the European Cup in the historic Treble-winning season of 1987–88. Hiddink also had a coaching stint at Turkish club Fenerbahçe in 1990, but was dismissed after one year, later joining Spanish giants Valencia.

Netherlands

Hiddink faced his biggest managerial challenge when he took over the reins of the Netherlands national team on 1 January 1995, where he took charge of a team of talented individuals continually racked by internal…

The De Graafschap mascot is named "Guus" in honor of Hiddink who was previously associated with the team as a player and as a manager. In 2005, Hiddink received an honorary doctorate from the University of Seoul. Hiddink was named an honorary citizen of Eindhoven after winning his sixth Eredivisie title with PSV in 2006. Hiddink was put on a stamp by Australia Post following the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Tax evasion

In February 2007, Hiddink was given a six-month suspended jail sentence and fined €45,000 after being found guilty of tax evasion by a Dutch court. Prosecutors had demanded a ten-month prison sentence for Hiddink, who was accused of evading €1.4 million in Dutch taxes by claiming to be a resident of Belgium from 2002 to 2003. The Dutch Tax Intelligence and Detection Service claimed that he had not spent enough nights at his Belgian house which he had stated was his primary address. Hiddink denied this accusation.

Player

De Graafschap

Tweede Divisie: 1969

Manager

PSV Eindhoven

Eredivisie: 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06 KNVB Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 2004–05 Johan Cruyff Shield: 2003 European Cup: 1987–88 Real Madrid

Intercontinental Cup: 1998 Russia

UEFA European Championship third place: 2008 Chelsea

FA Cup: 2008–09 Individual

Cheongnyong Medal: 2002 AFC Coach of the Year: 2002 World Soccer Manager of the Year: 2002 Coach of the Year by Dutch Olympic Committee and Sports Federation: 2002, 2005 Rinus Michels Award: 2004–05, 2005–06 Korean FA Hall of Fame: 2005 KNVB Lifetime Achievement Award: 2007 Honored Coach of Russia: 2008 Sports Illustrated Team of the Decade: 2009