Hiddink to coach Netherlands after FIFA World Cup

Guus Hiddink will return as head coach of the Dutch national football team from Aug 1 this year, with Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy as his assistants, the Dutch football association KNVB announced.

The 67-year-old Hiddink succeeds Louis van Gaal, who will quit after two years at the helm after the World Cup in Brazil this year, reports Xinhua.

"I consider it as an honour to return as national team coach," Hiddink stated in a press release Friday.

"With Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy, we have a solid team with a lot of football knowledge and experience."

"Personally, it is a wonderful fact that I can prepare my own successor," Hiddink added. "In this way the football vision for the Dutch team can be guaranteed in the long term."

In July last 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.