Pim Verbeek

Pim Verbeek

Verbeek as Australia head coach in September 2008
Personal information
Full name	Peter Tim Dirk Verbeek
Date of birth	(1956-03-12)12 March 1956[1]
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Date of death	28 November 2019(2019-11-28) (aged 63)
Place of death	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974–1975	Sparta Rotterdam
1977–1980	Sparta Rotterdam
Teams managed
1981–1984	DS '79
1984–1987
1987–1989	De Graafschap
1989	Feyenoord
1991–1992	Wageningen
1992–1993	Groningen
1994–1997	Fortuna Sittard
1998–1999	Omiya Ardija
2000–2002	South Korea (Assistant)
2002–2003	PSV Eindhoven (Reserve Team)
2003	Kyoto Purple Sanga
2004	Netherlands Antilles
2004	Borussia Mönchengladbach (Assistant)
2005	United Arab Emirates (Assistant)
2005–2006	South Korea U-23
2005–2006	South Korea (Assistant)
2006–2007	South Korea
2007–2010	Australia
2010–2014	Morocco U-23
2016–2019	Oman
Honours Men's football Representing  South Korea (as manager) AFC Asian Cup 2007
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Pim Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch football manager who last coached the Oman national football team.^[2] Verbeek was a part of the board of Sparta Rotterdam. His brother Robert Verbeek is also a football coach.

Club career[]

Verbeek in 1989

As a midfielder, he spent his entire career at Sparta Rotterdam. He had to retire from the game at age 25.

Managerial career[]

Verbeek was the assistant coach for the South Korea national football team under Guus Hiddink during the 2002 FIFA World Cup and also under Dick Advocaat during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Korea[]

The Korea Football Association signed him to a coaching contract on 26 June 2000.^[3] Verbeek led Korea to a third-placed finish at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, guaranteeing them an automatic berth in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup tournament. He resigned from coaching South Korea in July 2007 after the Asian Cup.

Australia[]

He was linked to coaching Australia after he said he would welcome another job in Asia and had previously been linked with the Socceroos coaching role in 2005.^[4] On 6 December 2007 it was announced that Verbeek had secured the position as the Australian coach.^[5] In his first World Cup qualifier game as head coach, Verbeek led Australia to a 3-0 win against Qatar at home.

His poor opinion of the standard of the A-League was well known, describing the performances of locally-based players Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp against Indonesia as "absolutely hopeless" and openly questioning the decision of Jason Culina to quit PSV Eindhoven and return home to play in Australia.^[6] When asked about possible improvements for the quality of football in the A-League, he said "Do you have an hour?" and "I am just being honest."^[6]

Under Verbeek, the Socceroos were the second country (apart from the host nation) to qualify for World Cup 2010 after a 0-0 draw against Qatar in June 2009, less than an hour after Japan had qualified.^[7]

Australia lost 0-4 to Germany in their opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the match, Verbeek chose to start the game without a recognized striker. He was heavily criticized by the Australian media for refusing to play attacking players Josh Kennedy, Mark Bresciano and Harry Kewell, all of whom are proven goal-scorers at international level.^[8] Australia then drew 1–1 with Ghana and defeated Serbia 2–1. They ended with four points, equal with Ghana, but were ranked third due to an inferior goal difference and did not progress from the group stage, with Verbeek departing shortly after.

Morocco[]

On 8 April 2010, Verbeek was appointed the national youth technical director for Morocco. His primary role was to identify and develop young talent for the Morocco national team, which had failed to qualify for the World Cup finals or the African Cup of Nations.^[9]

Under Verbeek, he had helped establishing a new generation that would be considered as the best Moroccan team in 21st century, by nurturing a young talented squad, in which during the 2011 CAF U-23 Championship, the young Morocco U-23 team occupied the silver medal in the inaugural tournament at home, overcoming many giants like Algeria and Egypt. This success earned Morocco's qualification to the 2012 Summer Olympics, in which he was praised. Although Morocco could not succeed in a tough group of the 2012 Summer Olympics, a number of players nurtured under Verbeek, such as Nordin Amrabat and Yassine Bounou would go on to represent Morocco in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. After the tournament, Verbeek resigned as coach of Morocco U-23 team.

Oman[]

He was appointed as coach of Oman at 2016, after Oman's failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Under his guidance, a young-talented squad emerged, in which Oman would eventually conquer the second Arabian Gulf Cup titles in the 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup held in Kuwait, which was also Verbeek's first ever international trophy.^[10]

However, it was the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, in which he helped the team to qualify from an easy qualification group, that became Verbeek's biggest success in his coaching career. Under Verbeek Oman lost to Uzbekistan and Japan with just one goal margin, before he registered the greatest success of Omani football history, beating Turkmenistan 3–1 to help Oman qualify for the round of sixteen for the first time.^[11] Although Oman's dream run ended by a 0–2 defeat to Iran, it was a great success.

After the tournament, Verbeek announced he would resign as coach of Oman, signalling that Oman was to be the last team in his coaching career.^[12]

Sparta Rotterdam[]

On 12 February 2019, Sparta Rotterdam announced that they had reached an agreement with Verbeek about joining the club as a member of the board.^[13]

Managerial style[]

Verbeek's teams usually employ two holding midfielders and a sole striker up front. His teams usually play conservatively with a slow tempo and gradually build up play and heavily rely on crosses and team passes.

Death[]

Verbeek died on 28 November 2019 at 63 years old after a four year battle with cancer.^[14]

Managerial statistics[]

^[15]

References[]

External links[]

• Pim Verbeek at J.League (in Japanese)