Guus Hiddink to return as Netherlands coach after 2014 World Cup

The Hague: Guus Hiddink will return as coach of the Dutch football team after the 2014 World Cup, Dutch media reported on Monday.

The 67-year-old will sign a four-year contract, the first two years as head coach and the last two years as technical supervisor. He might succeed Louis van Gaal, who already announced to quit after the forthcoming World Cup.

Hiddink, who had already coached the Dutch national team from 1995 to 1998, admitted he had an informal meeting with representatives of the Dutch football association KNVB. In January 2014, they will continue the talks. "I do not see what can go wrong," Hiddink's agent Cees van Nieuwenhuizen told Dutch broadcaster NOS.

The choice for Hiddink is surprising, because the KNVB was expected to take a coach of the new generation, with 50-year-old Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman being the favourite. If Hiddink will sign he will be the third consecutive Netherlands coach of 60 years or older, after Bert van Marwijk (2008-2012) and Louis van Gaal (2012-2014).

In July this year Hiddink resigned as coach of Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. He previously coached PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce, Valencia, Real Madrid, Real Betis, Chelsea and the national teams of the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, Russia and Turkey. With the Netherlands he reached the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup and with South Korea he did the same four years later.