Pim Verbeek

Pim Verbeek

Personal information
Full name	Peter Tim Dirk Verbeek
Date of birth	March 12, 1956 (1956-03-12)
Place of birth	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Playing position	Manager (former Footballer)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
	Roda JC
	NAC Breda
1974–1980	Sparta Rotterdam
Teams managed
1981–1984	DS '79
1984–1987	Unitas Gorinchem
1987–1989	De Graafschap
1989–1991	Feyenoord Rotterdam
1991–1992	FC Wageningen
1992–1993	FC Groningen
1994–1997	Fortuna Sittard
1998–2000	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–	Morocco U-23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Peter Tim Verbeek (born March 12, 1956 in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland), more commonly known as Pim Verbeek is a Dutch football manager who was the head coach of the Australia national football team. His brother Robert Verbeek is also a football coach.

Club career

As a player, he spent his career in the Netherlands mostly with Sparta Rotterdam. He also played with NAC Breda and Roda JC.

Managerial career

Verbeek was the assistant coach of 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 June 26, 2006 until 2008. Verbeek led Korea to a third-place 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, saying he needed a break from coaching for approximately five months.

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. On 6 December 2007 it was announced that Verbeek had secured the position as Australian coach. 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 are 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. 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".

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.

Australia lost 0-4 to the 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. 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.

Morocco

On April 8, 2010, Verbeek was appointed the national youth technical director for Morocco. He will start his new job in August at the conclusion of the World Cup 2010 finals in South Africa. His primary role will be to identify and develop young talent for the Morocco national team, which has failed to qualify for the World Cup finals or the African Cup of Nations.

Managerial style

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