The Generals in Germany
Guus Hiddink, Australia
Australia are playing their first football World Cup in 32 years. But you definitely could not tell that when they held world champions Brazil at bay for more than 45 minutes. And a large part of the credit must go to master tactician Guus Hiddink, the 59-year-old Dutch coach of the Socceroos.
Hiddink, a former Holland coach, has a reputation of taking his teams to unexpected heights of glory. The best evidence of that was when he masterminded the Koreans into the semifinals of the World Cup in 2002. The talented Dutch team under Hiddink was only denied a World Cup final place by a penalty shootout against Brazil in the semis.
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A veteran coach of many club sides in Holland, Italy and Spain, Hiddink is a close friend of the legendary 'Flying Dutchman,' Johann Cruyff. And Hiddink is definitely a legendary coach himself, having turned the Aussies around to one of the dark horses of World Cup 2006.
Image: Hiddink (left), the pillar of strength for the Australian team, oversees the Socceroos first training session in Germany. Photograph: Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images
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