10 Dec 2007(Mon)

December 8, 2007: It must have been a tough call for the Australian Football Federation in their choice for a new national coach.

The two final candidates were well known to Japanese fans: Philippe Troussier and Pim Verbeek.

In the end, Verbeek got the job, his target to take Australia into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Troussier, meanwhile, must wait to try and rebuild his career, because not a lot has gone right for him since he left Japan in 2002 after a successful and entertaining four years.

I must admit a few years ago I contacted the Scottish Football Association when Troussier was said to be on a shortlist of two, the other being Berti Vogts. Of course the SFA would not admit it was down to Troussier or Vogts, but I said that Troussier would do a great job in rebuilding the Scottish national team -- identifying talented young players and fitting them into a system from age group football through to the senior national team; just like he had done in Japan. And he would be pretty funny along the way...

But back to Pim. He is truly one of the game's nice guys, as anyone who has had dealings with him in recent years will testify.

He led Omiya in J2 in 1999 and Kyoto in J1 in 2003, and worked with Hiddink in the build-up to the 2002 World Cup and with Advocaat for the 2006 World Cup.

He popped over to Japan on a regular basis during his time in Korea to check on the Koreans playing here, and it was always refreshing to catch up with him for a coffee and a chat.

He knows the game inside out in this part of the world, and his knowledge of the Japanese and Koreans in particular will come in handy on the long road to South Africa (a minimum of 14 qualifying matches for Japan, a maximum of 18 if they finish third in the final round and must face two play-offs).

Although most of Australia's top players are in the English Premier League -- very convenient from Holland -- Pim says he will be based in Australia and assemble a squad of A-League players. This makes total sense, of course, because it is easy to follow the form and the condition of the players in Europe, but not so in Australia.

He will be going there at an exciting time, too, with the game enjoying a high profile; and the fact that he will be able to communicate in English after so many years in Japan and Korea must also be a huge barrier removed.

I am sure everyone in Japan wishes Pim the best -- once Japan have qualified, of course!

ends