Oranje Heartbreaks – UEFA Euro 2008.

Ever since I witnessed Holland win their first ever international title in 1988, being a fan of the Oranje has been nothing but heartbreaks and bitter disappointments. With the Oranje not being part of the 24 teams playing this summer in France for the European Championship, let’s revisit their previous disappointments in this tournament since 1988.

The Lead-Up:

Two years after losing to Portugal in the Round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup, the Oranje were back in the UEFA European Championship. This was their second consecutive elimination by Portugal in four years after losing to them in the Semi-Finals of Euro 2004. It was a truly awful game that saw more fouls than beautiful football. Marco van Basten was the manager of the 2006 team and this was his chance to redeem himself following a forgettable showing by the Orange at the World Cup.

Holland qualified after finishing second in their group. For this tournament, UEFA decided to change the qualifying format by having seven groups, with the top two teams automatically qualifying for Euro 2008. Holland battled Romania and Bulgaria for a top two finish that saw them come in second place. Their other opponents in the group featured Belarus, Albania, Slovenia and Luxembourg. Holland had been grouped with Belarus and Luxembourg in 1996 and once again, the Oranje would up losing a game in Belarus. They also failed to beat Romania in both matches, a draw and a loss, but did draw in Bulgaria before defeating them 2-0 in Amsterdam. Thus, Romania finished in first place with 29 points, while the Oranje finished second with 26, just one point ahead of Bulgaria. Holland had assured qualification with a game in hand, thanks to their victory over Bulgaria, so their loss against Belarus in the final qualifying match did not impact them.

This also meant that the Oranje were going to be playing in their sixth consecutive UEFA European Championship. That summer also marked the twenty year anniversary of the 88 Euro Oranje team winning their first and only European Championship. Could fate repeat itself with the star of that 1988 tournament now managing the side?

Austria and Switzerland were co-hosts for the 2008 edition. Holland were grouped in Group C with the defending World Cup champions, Italy, the other World Cup finalists, France, and the team that topped their qualifying group, Romania. 

Group A consisted of Portugal, the side who eliminated Holland in Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006, Turkey, Czech Republic and Switzerland. Group B consisted of Germany, Croatia, Austria and Poland. Group D consisted of Spain, Russia, coached by former Oranje manager Guus Hiddink, Sweden and defending European champions, Greece.

Euro 2008 saw the return of the familiar faces from the past such as Edwin van der Sar and Giovanni van Bronckhorst along with the new faces from Euro 2004 such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart, John Heitinga, and Wilfred Bouma. There had been a falling out between Marco and Ruud during World Cup 2006, but they were able to patch things up in time for Euro 2008. However, the same could not be said regarding Marco and Mark van Bommel who stated he would not play for the Oranje as long as Marco was in charge, thereby ensuring he was not going to be a member of this team. The rest of the team consisted of those who made their Oranje debut in an international tournament at the World Cup two years ago or this European championship.

This was the first European championship for the likes of André Ooijer, Joris Mathijsen, Demy de Zeeuw, Robin van Persie, Orlando Engelaar, Mario Melchiot, GK Henk Timmer, Tim de Cler, Maarten Stekelenburg, Nigel de Jong, Dirk Kuyt, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ibrahim Afellay, Khalid Boulahrouz, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesslink. Boulahrouz’s call up came at the last second after Ryan Babel suffered an injury during training which caused him to miss the tournament. That injury would turn out to be a blessing in disguise thanks to Boulahrouz’s performance.

Holland kicked off their Group with a resounding 3-0 victory over the World Cup champions Italy. Holland got their revenge for their Euro 2000 exit at the hands of the Italians by displaying superb counter attacking football that saw van Nistelrooy and Sneijder give the Orange a 2-0 after 30 minutes with van Bronckhorst scoring the third in the 79th minute. Their next match was against France, and the Oranje crushed them 4-1. Kuyt gave the Oranje the lead after nine minutes for the only goal of the first half. Oranje then doubled their lead at the hour mark through Van Persie but France managed to pull one back through Thierry Henry in the 71st minute.

However, the Oranje responded a minute later after Robben scored an extraordinary goal to make it 3-1 before Sneijder scored the fourth in stoppage time. After two matches, Holland had qualified to the knockout stages and ensured they would remain victorious after defeating, and eliminating, Romania 2-0 through goals from Huntelaar in the 54th minute and van Persie in the 87th minute. Marco van Basten opted to rest most of his starters so this allowed for Stekelenburg to make his first ever start for the Oranje at a tournament while Huntelaar scored his first ever goal in a tournament. Italy went on to defeat France to finish second.

Holland were just unstoppable as they scored 9 goals through 7 different players in the group stage. The team was on a roll and showed they were dangerous with or without the ball. There had been concerns about their defending leading up to this tournament but the last minute addition of Boulahrouz proved to be rewarding as the team seemed solid at the back. Marco van Basten had just managed his team to impressive victories over both World Cup 2006 finalists and many felt that they were the favorites to reach the Final.

Holland’s opponents in the Quarter-Finals would be Russia. Defending champions Greece exited in the group stage so a new champion was going to be crowned. Germany would meet Portugal, Croatia would meet Turkey, and Spain would face Italy. Could the Oranje celebrate the 20 year anniversary of their Euro 88 triumph with another title?

The Heartbreak:

It was strange watching Guus Hiddink sit in the dugout of Russia and not Holland. Just ten years ago, he was coaching the Oranje at the World Cup and now, he was coaching the Russians, the team Holland defeated to capture Euro 88. Marco van Basten, who just two years ago was thought to be inexperienced, had his team playing well with confidence and, for once, there was team harmony.

Sadly, just when things were going well, tragedy struck. During Euro 2008, Boulahrouz’s wife, Sabia had been attending Euro 2008 along with the other players’ spouses and girlfriends. Sabia was pregnant at the time, and a few days before the match against Russia, she had to be taken to the hospital because of pregnancy complications.
Sadly, she gave birth to a premature born baby daughter who passed away. This tragic news not only affected Boulahrouz and his wife, but the entire team as well. The KNVB stated, “Players and staff of the Dutch team are upset by the death of Anissa, the daughter of Khalid Boulahrouz and his wife Sabia, who was born prematurely.”

Mentally, the team was affected and this affected their training for the clash against Russia and van Basten gave his players some space to deal with this awful event. The team would also be affected on the pitch when Robben was ruled out of the Quarter-Finals against Russia because of a groin injury. Marco van Basten left it to Boulahrouz to decide if he wanted to play against Russia and the defender chose to play. When the teams lined up for the match, the Oranje players, with Boulahrouz in the starting lineup, donned black armbands in solidarity with their teammate.

Edwin van der Sar was in goal with van Bronckhorst and Boulahrouz as the starting fullbacks while Ooijer and Mathijsen played in the center of the defense. Up front was van Nistelrooy with Sniejder, van der Vaart and Kuyt supporting him while Engelaar and de Jong watched over their backs. Most of the starters had not played against Romania so they were rested for this match.

The Russians though started the match strong and threatened early against the well-rested, but distraught Oranje. In the 7th minute, van der Sar was forced into making a diving save to stop Yuri Zhirkov’s free kick effort. Two minutes later, Roman Pavlyuchenko headed Igor Semshov’s cross over the bar. Hiddink’s plan to have his team be aggressive and limit space for the Oranje was working.

Holland’s first real chance came in the 20th minute, after Sneijder managed to break into the box, only for his shot to be blocked by a Russian player. Ten minutes later, van der Vaart whipped in a cross that neither Van Nistelrooy nor De Jong could not put away, although replays showed their shirts were being tugged. Suddenly, Russia’s number 10, Andrei Arshavin, came alive in this game and curled a low shot towards the far post which forced van der Sar to fully extend himself to make a save. The veteran goalkeeper didn’t have much time to relax because on the ensuing corner, Denis Kolodin had an effort on goal which forced him into a coming up with a good stop for another corner kick. On the ensuing corner kick, the ball was cleared from the box and Kolodin struck a shot from near midfield that van der Sar managed to tip over the cross bar.

Holland would then reply with a few chances of their own. In the 37th minute, Boulahrouz sent van Nistelrooy through on goal but his effort was stopped by Igor Akinfeyev. A few minutes later, Sneijder sent a free kick over the bar. A minute before the interval, van der Vaart had a chance to give his side the lead, but his effort was right at Akinfeyev. The halftime whistle blew and this match was still up for grabs.

Kuyt’s night was over as van Basten opted to replace him with van Persie at the restart, who proceeded to waste a chance in the opening minutes. Russia were the better side after the restart while the Oranje could not generate anything. The Oranje would be forced into making a second substitution in the 54th minute when Boulahrouz picked up an injury and had to be replaced by Heitinga. In what was one of toughest weeks of his life, Boulahrouz seemed to have reached his breaking point mentally and physically with that injury. This substitution would also impact the Oranje as their backline had just been weakened.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse, Russia would strike first blood two minutes later when Sergei Semak’s cross from the left was volleyed in by Pavlyuchenko to give his side the lead. This was the first time that Holland were behind in Euro 2008. The Oranje were in shock after that goal and struggled to recover, and van Basten made his final substitution by taking off Engelaar for Afellay in the 62nd minute. In the 71st minute, Pavlyuchenko’s superb one touch chip over van Bronckhorst fell to Aleksandr Anyukov inside the box. Fortunately, van der Sar managed to fully extend his arm to get a hand on the ball and deny Anyukoy’s effort at the far post. The ball stopped upon impact and bounced down in front van der Sar.

The Oranje’s confidence was gone and they were struggling against the Russians. Even dead ball situations were being wasted. In the 72nd minute, Holland had a free kick at the edge of the box and both Sneijder and van Persie stood over the ball before van Persie blasted it over the wall, over the goal, and into the stands. Pavlyuchenko was denied by van der Sar in the 78th minute and a few minutes later, Sneijder had a shot from some distance that went over the bar.

It looked bleak. It looked hopeless. It looked like the Oranje were going to crash out. Yet, the Oranje somehow managed to equalize in the 86th minute. Holland were awarded a free kick from some distance. Sneijder swung in the free kick and somehow the ball fell perfectly to van Nistelrooy to head in the equalizer from close range. 1-1 and the Oranje just gave themselves a second chance.

Right before the final whistle, it seemed that the Oranje were going to face a shorthanded Russian side when the referee Ľuboš Micheľ showed Kolodin what appeared to be his second yellow for a foul Sneijder. However, Micheľ ran to the linesman who convinced him to change his mind, thereby allowing Kolodin to stay on the pitch. Some would say it was the wrong decision but both teams would have eleven players heading into Extra Time.

That equalizer should have been demoralizing for Russia and provided Holland with an extra boost momentum needed to claim victory. No one though told the Russians because it seemed to spur them on, especially Arshavin, and they were the better and dominant side for the remainder of the match. Seven minutes into Extra Time, Russia came close to scoring when Pavlyuchenko struck the crossbar, and three minutes later Arshavin caused havoc before finding substitute Dmtri Torbinski, whose shot was stopped by van der Sar.

The first half of Extra Time came to an end and the Oranje were listless but still not out of this game. Nonetheless, fatigue was setting in and it showed in the second half of Extra Time. In the 17th minute, Zhirkov went down inside the box, claiming he was fouled by Heitinga. Referee waved play on but it was obvious that there were some tired legs out there. Then the inevitable happened; Russia scored. In the 112th minute, Arshavin managed to get to the by-line and was given enough space by Ooijer to somehow loop the ball across the goal. Unfortunately, van der Sar misjudged the ball and allowed it to get behind him. That allowed Torbinski to sprint past van der Vaart and nudge the ball in for the go ahead goal.

You could tell that there was no coming back from that goal for the Oranje. Arshavin was playing like a player with an extra lung, which was not that astonishing since this was only his second match of Euro 2008 after serving a two-match suspension at the start of the tournament. It was no surprise that he scored the third and final goal of the match four minutes later. Arshavin managed to beat the off side trap and got the ball at the edge of the box, then fooled Ooijer before seeing his shot on goal take a slight deflection off of Heitinga, whose attempt at blocking the shot resulted in the ball going between van der Saar’s legs. 3-1 and any chance of another late equalizer had vanished.

In a matter of 120 minutes, Holland’s great run in this tournament came to a grinding halt. The Russians celebrated their surprising win while Holland would once again exit a tournament filled with regret and disappointment. Overall, this was a wonderful tournament for the Oranje until they played the Russians. The positives from this tournament was that we saw that the young talent from Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006 can deliver for the Oranje and are capable of greater things. No doubt this tournament served as a building block for the World Cup in two years’ time.

The Aftermath:

Spain eliminated Italy, then Russia before facing Germany, who eliminated Portugal and Turkey, and defeated them too, to celebrate their second ever European championship. Marco van Basten stepped down as manager of the Oranje after this tournament. His successor would be Bert van Marwijk, Mark van Bommel’s father in law.
Two years later, most of these players, would finally reach the 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa. There, they would suffer a painful loss to Spain in Extra Time. It seems that the Oranje traded exits through penalty shootouts with exits after Extra Time.

Sadly, this tournament marked the end of an era as Edwin van der Sar retired from the national team after Euro 2008. He had been the Oranje’s starting goalkeeper since Euro 96 that saw him start in four European Championships and two World Cups. Ruud van Nistelrooy also played in his final major tournament for the Oranje. Under van Marwijk, Ruud would not feature for the Oranje until after the World Cup where he appeared in a few Euro 2012 Qualifiers. He was also ignored for that tournament. Nonetheless, this core of players marked a new era for the Oranje that would be remembered down the road for the highs and the lows.

Euro 2012 to be the final great Euro Cup.

Get ready folks. Euro 2012 is coming up this summer and following yesterday’s draw, this will be another exciting tournament. Sadly, it will also be the final Euro Cup that will be considered great. In my opinion, UEFA’s decision to expand it from 16 teams to 24 teams for the 2016 edition will extinguish the flame that made this tournament great.

The draw for this summer Euro 2012 group stages took place last week and once again, the draw reminded me why this is my favorite tournament in football. Where else can you get a group with three European champions? Where else can you get arch rivals meet at the group stage? World Cup? Rarely. Copa America? Not that often. The Champions League does come close in terms of providing us a sort of the Best of the Best in Europe competition. However, nothing can top the Euro Cup.

My first ever football memories were that of Euro 88 when Holland finally won their first ever tournament and put to rest the despairs of their shortcomings in the past. Since then, I have been following them as they continued to break my heart in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Euro cups. In my opinion, this summer presents the final time that the Euro cup will be special. UEFA’s president, and former winner of the Euro cup, Platini will be expanding the Euro cup from the current 16 teams to 24 for the 2016 edition. I hope that somehow that will never be implemented but I don’t the chances of that happening any more than the chances of FIFA switching venues for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

I have always gotten grief about my belief that the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup. I still stand by that statement. In the past, it was hard just to qualify for the Euro cup. Before 1996, only 8 countries qualified for the tournament. 8. Defending champions Spain failed to qualify in 1992 and even the Italian national team failed to qualify in 1992 along with three other times after winning the tournament in 1968. Can you imagine a World Cup or Euro Cup now where Italy and Spain are not present? For some reason, this one tournament that did not have its usual teams until it expanded to 16 for the 1996 Euro Cup. The change was needed after UEFA expanded from 33 countries to 47 teams after 1994.

16 teams did double the number of participants but it did not dilute the competition. Unlike the World Cup or the Champions League where more is not better, doubling the number of nations fighting for the Euro Cup was a boost. The big factor that differentiated between the Euro Cup and the World Cup were the group stages. The World Cup now might have one group of death but most of the time, we know which teams will advance from their groups along with the odd surprise such as France and Italy’s elimination from this past World Cup group stage or France and Argentina’s shock elimination back in 2002.

However, most group stages never pack a punch like the Euro Cup. Euro 88 gave us a Germany, Spain and Italy group.  Euro 96 gave us a group consisting of France, Spain, Bulgaria and Romania, 3 of which were in the knockout stages of the previous World Cup that France failed to qualify for.  Euro 2000 gave us a group consisting of then defending World Cup champions with Holland and Denmark while England was grouped with Germany and Portugal and Romania. Euro 2004 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Germany and Czech Republic while the last edition of Euro 2008 gave us a group consisting of Holland, Italy and France. How often do you get those types of group stages where the previous World Cup finalists are grouped together?

On top of that, how often do you get to see arch rivals such as Holland and Germany, or England and Germany get grouped together? Brazil and Argentina? Only during the World Cup qualifiers and that started this past decade when Conmebol scrapped the two group stages to keep Brazil and Argentina separated. As a fan of the Oranje, getting to see Holland face Germany in the group stages is something to get ready for. Holland’s group this year will pit them once again against Germany and also against Portugal, the side that knocked them out of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006.

Those group stages are a killer to get out of and if you do advance, you still have other teams that are no pushovers. When France won it all in 2000, they had to defeat Denmark and Euro 96 finalists Czech’s before losing to Holland in the final group stage match. They then had to face Spain, Portugal and Italy to win the Euro Cup for the second time. Spain had to defeat Russia, Sweden and then Greece before having to beat Italy, Russia and Germany for the cup. Denmark’s amazing story in 1992 saw them get invited at the last second to replace Yugoslavia and they survived a group that featured England, France and Sweden before defeating Holland and Germany.

As much as we all love the World Cup for what it is, it does not generate that much excitement till the final group stage match or the knockout rounds. It is diluted with teams that some would consider minnows that are out of their league. Even then, sometimes the knocks out stages fail to deliver us big games. Looking back at the 2002 World Cup, Germany made it all the way to the final without defeating a single European country. They tied with Ireland in the group stage and defeated Saudi Arabia and Cameroon before knocking out Paraguay, USA and South Korea before falling to Brazil in the final. Heck, even Brazil made it to the final by playing Turkey twice, Costa Rica, China, Wilmots’s inspired Belgium, and England. France did have its work cut out for it in 2006 when they had to go through Spain, Brazil and Portugal while Italy had to go through Ghana, USA, Czech Republic, Australia, Ukraine, and Germany before defeating the French.

I know the World Cup is no easy task and I expect some rebuttals in that if the Euro Cup is harder to win than the World Cup, then how come Denmark, Holland and Greece never won the World Cup. That’s not the point. Comparing the two tournaments in terms of level of difficulty is what I’m getting at. We will never see a World Cup group stage with Germany and Holland or Spain with Brazil, or Italy with Argentina as often as we would like. World Cup keeps its mega powers away from each other whereas the Euro Cup didn’t care. Can you recall the last time Germany was eliminated from a World Cup group? I recall Germany crashing out in 2000 and 2004. Prior to World Cup 2010, you had to go back to World Cup 1974 to see Italy crash out of a World Cup group stage while it happened to them twice in recent tournaments, Euro 96 and Euro 2004. Will we ever see a country win the World Cup playing a group with Holland and Italy before taking on the likes of Spain, Germany, Brazil and Argentina in the knock out stages? I highly doubt it. That’s the type of strength that the Euro Cup provides us with.

This summer, we are going to see England and France meet again like they in 2004. Holland and Germany meet again after recently being grouped together in Euro 2004 and also back in Euro 92. Sadly, this will probably be the last time we will get to enjoy a tournament with such group stages. Euro 2016 will see the teams expand from 16 to 24. This will lead to the introduction of two additional groups which will spread out the big teams and thus lessen the chances of seeing the same sort of groups we are accustomed to seeing. However, why mess with a good thing? 16 teams were more than enough and in a time where we are complaining of too many matches for players for both club and country, how does expanding lessen that dilemma?

So sit back and enjoy this great tournament one final time. The next one might be only exciting when it comes to the final group stage or the knock out stages, which is what we have right now with the World Cup and to a lesser extent, the Champions League. Here’s to the last toughest international football tournament.

Has Hiddink's Magic Worn Out?

On November 15, 2011, Dutchman Guus Hiddink's fate as the Turkish national team manager was sealed after his side drew 0-0 with Croatia and thus ending their pursuit of qualifying for Euro 2012 thanks to a 3-0 home loss in the first leg. Hiddink was gone a few days later and is now free to coach elsewhere. However, not much have gone his way since Euro 2008. In a span of four year, Hiddink has gone from miracle worker to a slight disappointment. Has Hiddink's magic worn out or does it only work outside of Europe?

I still consider him to be the second best manager Holland ever had after the great Rinus Michels. His first tournament,Euro 96, ended in bitter disappointment after falling to the French national team in a shoot out and somewhat controversial fashion which was also blown out of proportion after Edgar Davids was dismissed from the team. His successfully managed Holland to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup where they would suffer yet another elimination from a penalty shoot out against Brazil . He would step down afterwards and Holland would go on to lose in yet another semi-finals in Euro 2000 against Italy where wasted chances from the penalty spot would haunt this team for four more years before they put those demons to rest when they defeated Sweden in Euro 2004.

Meanwhile, Hiddink continued to work his magic. His next job was coaching South Korea. He helped South Korea capture their first ever win at a World Cup after failing to do so in their last five straight World Cup appearances. He also guided South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup with the aid of lady luck.  Much of his experience in South Korea was detailed in the book "Going Dutch" which provided insight in how changed the way football was run in that country. South Korea ended their magical ride with a fourth place finish under Hiddink and they did manage to qualify for the knockout rounds this past World Cup.

Hiddink returned to Holland to coach PSV Eindhoven. He had great success with PSV back in the late 80's including the Champions League trophy in 1988. He second stint was just as successful although he encounter his "Semi-Finals" jinx when Milan eliminated PSV in the Champions League in the final seconds. Hiddink was on a roll where everything he touched resulted in success.

He then managed to do what was deemed impossible after he managed Australia to the 2006 World Cup for the first time since Stephen King published his first novel under his own name. He then got them to advance to the first knock out stage before falling to eventual champions Italy. He continued to surprise everybody when he took the role of Russian national team manager. He helped Russia end their international tournament drought since Euro 96 when Russia qualified for Euro 2008.

Their twelve year wait to return to the big stage started off with a crushing loss to eventual champions Spain but they finished second in the group stage. This set the stage for Hiddink's biggest challenge; facing his home country Holland in the Quarter-Finals. Once again, Hiddink managed to surprise the world when the Russian defeated Holland in extra time. Unfortunately, Hiddink's team would fall in another semi-final when Spain routed his side 3-0.

With the Russians coming so close to making it to the Euro 2008 Cup final, many considered Russia qualifying for the 2010 World Cup was a mere formality. However, 2009 would be a tough year for Hiddink. Hiddink was appointed as Chelsea's manager in February and managed to win the FA Cup but fell to my beloved Barcelona in the memorable and, to some, still controversial fashion in yet another semi-finals. He was sharing duties with Russian team and was grouped with Euro 2008 finalists, Germany. Hiddink's side finished second to Germany and thus had to play in a playoff to qualify for World Cup 2010.

Russia's opponents were Slovenia and again, many expected Russia to advance. Unfortunately, Russia's 2-1 first leg result would not be enough as they lost away 1-0 to Slovenia in November of 2009 and thus were eliminated by away goals rule. Hiddink left the Russian manager seat and took the challenging position of being the Turkish national team manager back on June 2010. Once again, he would get grouped with Germany and once again, his side would finish second.

Thus, Hiddink was back in another set of playoff qualifiers set in November. This time, Turkey's chances of advancing were not so concrete when they were drawn to face Croatia. Sadly, the first leg ended with Turkey suffering a 3-0 defeat at home and thus, their chances in overturning this result in Croatia were slim. Turkey played to a scoreless draw in the second leg and thus Hiddink had to suffer the bitter taste of elimination via November playoffs. Hiddink was out as coach of the Turkish national team.

So Hiddink is available for hire. The problem is, is he bankable anymore? He went from being known as the manager who you never bet on when he's in the semi-finals to a manager who has come up short in qualifying for a major international tournament twice. I still think he has some magic left in him and don't believe he was cursed when he became Chelsea's manager. I think he paid the price for Russian players' lack of focus but the Turkey failure is on him.

So what's next for Hiddink? Talk of him going into the sporting manager/ director roles seem rampant with Ajax and Chelsea already being rumored to be interested in obtaining his services. Personally, I think he still has some magic left in him. I think Hiddink can work his magic outside of Europe. I stated in the past that he should have been considered for the US national team position since he expressed how much he enjoyed playing and living in the US back in the late 70's. I wouldn't mind seeing him try to coach a team from Africa too, especially how some of those countries have done in the youth international competitions which is something that Hiddink likes to focus on when he coaches a national team.

No one knows what lies ahead but I sure wouldn't mind seeing Hiddink coach USA or Nigeria. I think the man still has some magic left in him. Everyone goes through a bad spell and Hiddink escaping Europe would probably be best for him. I still wouldn't mind him coaching Holland in the future if Bert van Marwijk changes his mind and steps down after Euro 2012. Hopefully Hiddink can overcome that semi-finals jinx if he does get that far. That alone should be a factor for him to pursue a career in coaching. Only time will tell.