Top > Sport > 2006 > April > 2006-04-17

Australia Seeks New Full Time Coach

Head of the national soccer team for Australia, Guus Hiddink, leaves his post after the coming World Cup in Germany, and Australia hopes to replace him with a full time coach. Football Federation Australia (FFA) wants the new coach to spend a lot of his time in Australia, unlike Hiddink who is combining the role with coaching Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.

`We would certainly expect the new national coach to spend a considerable amount of time in Australia beyond the time that the Socceroos are together. The FFA, which has not ruled out hiring an Australian, said it would be happy for assistant coach Graham Arnold to lead the team in their opening Asian Cup qualifiers if necessary. `The local candidates are led by the people we`ve got working for us at the moment, Graham Arnold,` Boultbee said. `We`re in a very good situation in that it will be seamless when Guus leaves with Graham Arnold and Johann Neeskens ready to take our teams to the Asian Cup if we haven`t totally completed the task of naming a new coach. `We are absolutely confident that we will be able to attract a coach of a very good caliber,` he said.

`The reputation and the performances of the socceroos has made Australia a very interesting prospect for very high caliber coaches.`
Hiddink, who guided Australia to a first World Cup appearance in 32 years, is poised to sign a four-year contract to lead Russia through to the 2010 tournament in South Africa.