Peter Tim Dirk "Pim" Verbeek (12 March 1956 – 28 November 2019) was a Dutch

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager who last coached the

Oman national football team The Oman national football team ( ar, منتخب عُمان لكرة القدم) represents Oman in men's international football and is controlled by the Oman Football Association. Although the team was officially founded in 1978, the squad was ...

Playing career

As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and spent his entire career at

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

. He played there for two stints: from 1974 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1980.

Managerial career

South Korea

Verbeek was the assistant coach of the South Korean national team under

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and also under Dick Advocaat at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. Prior to this, he coached various teams in his home country, including

De Graafschap VBV De Graafschap () is a professional football club from Doetinchem, Netherlands, playing in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football. It was formed on 1 February 1954 and they play their home games at the De Vijverberg stadium. ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, Fortuna Sittard and even

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

. He also served as the assistant coach of the United Arab Emirates national team. Verbeek began coaching South Korea on 26 June 2006. He led South Korea to a third-place finish at the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

, guaranteeing them automatic qualification to the next tournament. He left in July 2007.

Australia

Verbeek was linked to coaching the Australian national team after he stated that he would welcome another job in Asia. He had previously been linked with the Socceroos in 2005. On 6 December 2007, it was announced that Verbeek had secured his position as Australia's coach. In his first World Cup qualifying match as head coach, he led Australia to a 3-0 win against Qatar at home. Verbeek's poor opinion of the standard of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

was well-known, describing the performances of locally-based players Archie Thompson and

Danny Allsopp Daniel Lee Allsopp (born 10 August 1978) is an Australian former soccer player who played as a striker. As a player he notably played for Manchester City for several seasons and was part of their team that earned promotion back to the Premie ...

against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

as "absolutely hopeless" and openly questioning the decision of Jason Culina to leave

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...

and return home to play in Australia. When asked about possible improvements for the quality of football in the A-League, he said "Do you have an hour?" and "I am just being honest." Under Verbeek, the Socceroos were the second country (apart from the hosts) to qualify for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

after a 0-0 draw against Qatar in June 2009, less than an hour after

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

had qualified. Australia lost 0-4 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup. In that match, Verbeek chose to start the match without a recognised striker. He was heavily criticised by the Australian media for refusing to play attacking players Josh Kennedy,

Mark Bresciano Mark Bresciano ( ; ; born 11 February 1980) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Born in Melbourne, Bresciano played youth football for Bulleen Lions, before moving into the National Soccer League with ...

and

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...

, all of whom were proven goal-scorers at international level. Australia then drew 1-1 with

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

and defeated

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

2-1. They ended their group with four points, equal with Ghana, but finished only third due to a worse goal difference and were eliminated, with Verbeek departing shortly after. Ghana went on to reach the quarter-finals, becoming one of only three African teams to do so at a World Cup.

Morocco

On 8 April 2010, Verbeek was appointed as the technical director for Morocco's youth teams. His primary role was to identify and develop young talents for the Moroccan national team, which had failed to qualify for the World Cup finals and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2010. He helped establish a new generation that would be considered as the best Moroccan side in the 21st century by nurturing a young, talented squad. At the

2011 CAF U-23 Championship The 2011 African U-23 Championship was the first edition of the football tournament for players under 23 years. It was originally scheduled to be hosted by Egypt from 26 November to 10 December 2011. However, less than two months prior to the sta ...

on home soil, Verbeek's U-23 team became runners-up, overcoming many giants like

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. This success earned Morocco qualification to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, in which Verbeek was praised. Although the Atlas Lions could not succeed in a tough group, a number of players became noticed by the world, such as Nordin Amrabat and

Yassine Bounou Yassine Bounou ( ar, ياسين بونو; ber, ⵢⴰⵙⵉⵏ ⴱⵓⵏⵓ; born 5 April 1991), also known as Bono, is a Moroccan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Sevilla and the Morocco national team. Bono began his yo ...

, who would go on to represent Morocco at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

. After the Olympics, Verbeek left Morocco.

Oman

He was appointed as the Omani national team's coach in 2016 after their failure to qualify for the

. Under his guidance, many young talented players emerged, in which Oman would eventually win the

23rd Arabian Gulf Cup The 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي‎) was the 23rd edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. It took place in Kuwait from 22 December 2017 until ...

held in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, which was also the country's second ever Gulf Cup and Verbeek's first ever international trophy. However, it was the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup was the 17th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in the United Arab Emirates from 5 January to 1 ...

that became Verbeek's biggest success in his coaching career. Despite losing to

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

and

by a single goal, Oman defeated

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

3-1, reaching the knockout stages for the first time ever. It became the greatest success in the history of Omani football. After Oman's Asian Cup journey ended in the round of 16 with a 2-0 loss to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, Verbeek announced that he would retire from coaching for good.

Return to Sparta Rotterdam

On 12 February 2019,

announced that they had reached an agreement with Verbeek about joining the club as a member of the board. He held that position until his death.

Managerial style

Verbeek usually employed two holding midfielders and a sole striker up front. His teams usually played conservatively with a slow tempo, built up play gradually and heavily relied on crosses and team passes.

Personal life and death

Verbeek's brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

is also a football coach. However, they are not related to yet another coach, Gertjan Verbeek, who also coached Feyenoord. He died on 28 November 2019 at 63, after a four-year battle with cancer.

Managerial statistics

J.League Data Site
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbeek, Pim 1956 births 2019 deaths Eredivisie players Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch footballers Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers Sparta Rotterdam players Sparta Rotterdam managers De Graafschap managers Feyenoord managers J1 League managers J2 League managers Omiya Ardija managers Kyoto Sanga FC managers Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Expatriate football managers in Japan Expatriate football managers in South Korea Australian soccer coaches Australia national soccer team managers 2007 AFC Asian Cup managers 2010 FIFA World Cup managers Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands Antilles Netherlands Antilles national football team managers South Korea national football team managers FC Groningen managers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Morocco 2019 AFC Asian Cup managers Association football midfielders Expatriate football managers in Morocco Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Oman Expatriate football managers in Oman Oman national football team managers