Pim Verbeek: Australia coach at World Cup 2010

PIM VERBEEK
AGE: 54.
NATIONALITY: Dutch.
WORLD CUP EXPERIENCE: 2002 Assistant, South Korea.
PREVIOUS COACHING EXPERIENCE: 1981–84 Sparta Rotterdam, 1987–89 De Graafschap, 1989–91 Feyenoord, 1991–92 FC Wageningen, 1992–19 FC Groningen, 1994–97 Fortuna Sittard, 1998–2000 Omiya Ardija, 2000–02 Assistant, South Korea, 2002–03 PSV Eindhoven reserves, 2003 Kyoto Purple Sanga, 2004 Dutch Antilles, 2004 Borussia Monchengladbach, assistant, 2005 UAE assistant, 2005–2006 Assitant, South Korea, 2006–2007 South Korea, 2007– Australia.

He was linked to coaching Australia after he said he would welcome another job in Asia and had previously been linked with the Socceroos coaching role in 2005.

Verbeek has brought a pragmatic approach to the team, built on a solid defence, but also with capabilities going forward on the flanks.

Highly respected by the players, Verbeek has instilled a strong sense of team in what is a highly motivated and focused unit.

During a post match interview which followed the 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Qatar, Verbeek promised to sing the Australian national anthem Advance Australia Fair live on television, on the condition that the Socceroos qualify for the World Cup.

This was in response to a query from a commentator about Verbeek’s knowledge of the words to the anthem, in reference to former assistant Johan Neeskens, a Dutchman who sang the Australian national anthem before each match of the 2006 World Cup.

Verbeek will move on after the World Cup in South Africa 2010, as manager of the Moroccan Olympic, U20 and the U17 teams.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Australia World Cup Tickets for its the upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

World Cup 2010: Australia The First Team To Arrive In South Africa

The World Cup Organising Committee have welcomed Australia's Socceroos as the first participating team to arrive in South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Australia landed at 18:35 local time yesterday evening (Wednesday) at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.

“We are pleased to welcome Australia as the first team to arrive in our country,” said Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan in a statement. "We all know that the stadiums are all ready, everything is in place and now the teams are finally here. More importantly though, our people are ready. From now, we have to concentrate on the kick-off match in a few days' time."

SAFA president, Kirsten Nematandani, was there to welcome the team as the representative of the host team. “As the host association, we feel excited to welcome all the teams to our country. It’s important that all the teams should feel at home and enjoy the best that our country has to

Australia coach, Pim Verbeek, said his team was excited to be in South Africa.

“First of all I want to say that we are very excited to be here in South Africa. I have been to this country about eight or nine times already and I have always enjoyed my stay here. It’s a great country and they have some of the best hotels. However, now we are here for a different reason, we are here to compete. But, I know it’s not going to be easy. We have a tough group with some quality teams.

“The most important thing for us is to win our first game. We have given ourselves plenty of time to prepare and acclimatise to the local conditions. The players will have to get used to the altitude and the few warm-up matches will help us a lot in achieving this. When playing in the World Cup, you have to prepare yourself and make sure the team is in good condition,” said Verbeek in a press statement.

Australia will open their 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign against Germany in Durban on June 13, moving to Rustenburg to play Ghana on June 19 and ending their group matches against Serbia in Nelspruit on June 23.

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Australia World Cup Tickets for its the upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

Young Socceroo and Bolton midfielder Aaron Mooy

While playing for the Bolton Wanderers Reserve side, Aaron Mooy may not get the plaudits he deserves. Many Australians wouldn’t know his name, he doesn’t get to play every week in televised games, and he has to take on other reserves teams on freezing Monday nights. But Mooy is one of the future Socceroos developing his game in a top European League, honing his game in an effort to eventually play for the Bolton first team, and hopefully one day for the Socceroos in a World Cup.

Mooy joined Bolton Wanderers ahead of the 2007/08 season from Westfield Sports High School, a school which also produced ex-Bolton, current Adelaide United defender, Scott Jamieson. As Mooy puts his story, “I was spotted playing in Australia by a Bolton Scout and was asked to come on trial, and from there I signed.”

Bolton Academy boss Peter Farrell last year told the media that “He came over here when he was 14 years of age after being spotted in Australia. He got his education here at Bolton School, but he is a tremendous footballer.”

He continued to heap praise on Mooy, saying that while “…He still needs to work on his game, like the times when he hasn’t got the ball, ability-wise, he oozes class. It doesn’t surprise me that he has been selected for his country.”

This selection for Australia has come both in the form of Youth team selection, and more recently a senior squad call up. Mooy was selected for the Young Socceroo World Cup squad, and despite a strong build up, the team failed to excite at the FIFA U20 World Cup, losing all three games.

While Mooy was disappointed with the result, he still felt there were positives. “I was disappointed (not to progress) as I thought we had a good enough squad to go past the group stage, but we just didn’t perform at our best and it cost us. However it was good to see that we were trying to play the right way, keeping the ball on the ground and moving it around, so that was a positive.”

The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Australia World Cup Tickets for its the upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website.

Socceroo bits and bobs

Since things have been a bit quiet on the Socceroo stage, I thought I’d update everyone on some of the issues effecting our Socceroos.

Socceroos captain Lucas Neill joins Galatasaray
Socceroo skipper Lucas Neill has joined Australian team-mate Harry Kewell at Turkish club Galatasaray on a one and a half year deal. He moves to Turkey after spending less then six months at Premier League side Everton.

Heffernan to Huddersfield
Central Coast have allowed defender Dean Heffernan to join English League One side Huddersfield for the rest of the season. With the Mariners set to miss out on the finals the club felt they could allow Heffernan to leave on loan. While the move will please Pim Verbeek, as it will give him another option in defence playing regular European football, I don’t think that Heffernan has a realistic chance of making the World Cup squad.

Macca to Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have signed Socceroo Scott McDonald from Celtic, in a move that will see him reunited with former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan. It will also see McDonald join fellow Aussies Rhys Williams and Brad Jones at the Riverside.

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The World Cup 2010 tickets of all matches are now available for sale. Football tickets of all the matches of World Cup are for sale at ticket4football.com, you can buy the Australia World Cup Tickets for its the upcoming matches and World Cup Football tickets of other teams on this website. The website also sell the Champions League tickets.