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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager who last coached the

Oman national football team The Oman national football team () represents Oman in men's international association football, football and is controlled by the Oman Football Association. History World Cup and Asian Cup The Oman national football team has made notable effort ...

Playing career

As a player, Verbeek was a defender or a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. 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 Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

at the

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

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

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

Fortuna Sittard Fortuna Sittard (; ) is a professional football club from the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands. The club currently plays its football in the 12,500 capacity Fortuna Sittard Stadion and features in the Eredivisie. The club was establi ...

and even

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

. 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, 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, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

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

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

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

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

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 The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

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

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

had qualified. Australia lost 0-4 to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 wi ...

and

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian soccer coach, manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 League. As a player, Kewell represented Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Liverpool ...

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

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and defeated

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

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.

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

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. 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, were 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 group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

, a number of players became noticed by the world, such as Nordin Amrabat and Yassine Bounou, 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 national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. After the Olympics, Verbeek left Morocco. Many of Verbeek’s talents would form the backbone of the Moroccan squad that reached the Semi Finals of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, becoming the first African side to do so.

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 held in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, 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 (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

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

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and

by a single goal, Oman defeated

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

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 (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, 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 ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

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
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbeek, Pim 1956 births 2019 deaths Eredivisie players Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch men's footballers Dutch football managers Dutch expatriate football managers People from Rotterdam 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 managers Australia men's 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 Men's 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 20th-century Dutch sportsmen