Hiddink adds lonely touch of orange to World Cup

The Netherlands may not have qualified for next year's World Cup finals but one Dutchman is almost certain to be around in co-host country South Korea.

For Guus Hiddink, who led the Dutch in France in 1998 and now runs the South Korean national team, the absence of his native land is a painful subject.

"I feel very bad," said Hiddink in an interview, recalling the Netherlands' stumble through the qualifiers which ended with a 1-0 defeat to a 10-man Ireland side.

"For the Dutch public, which is very faithful to the national team, travelling all over the world enjoying making big parties, it's a real pity."

Hiddink shifted uneasily in his chair at a hotel in central Seoul.

"Also for the players. For them, and I know them all very well personally, it's a disaster not being in the world championship. It was, for some of them, the last opportunity to perform well on the world stage," said Hiddink.

"Not being there is bitter for them."

Competing Egos
Hiddink was in charge at the last World Cup when the Dutch first-round performances included a 5-0 rout of South Korea.

He would have loved the chance to test the progress of his latest charges against his home country's players next year.

"It would have been a big challenge to meet them," he said. "Even in the qualification group."

Having had to deal with the competing egos of his personnel when he managed the Dutch national team and Real Madrid, Hiddink now finds himself with an entirely different task.

Traditionally one of Asia's footballing powerhouses, South Korea have yet to make an impression on the world stage. In five finals appearances they have failed to get a single win.

"They were present...but they made rather poor performances. They were not gathering the respect of the football world," Hiddink said.

His insistence that South Korea must play quality opposition to prepare for next year has met with disapproval in the Korean media, with many saying that 5-0 defeats by France and the Czech Republic have shattered the players' confidence.

The Dutchman, however, insists the players need these lessons.

"Their technical skill is not so bad," he said. "But because of a lack of experience or a lack of challenge, they perform under the level they can perform.

"If I am going in the same way as they did in the past and going to play, with all respect, the second-class and fourth-class nations, of course we'd gather respect and gather a lot of confidence but it's false confidence."

New Stadiums
With so much work to be done on the pitch, Hiddink has little time to devote attention to the organisers' preparations for one of the world's biggest sporting events.

But with his side having played in five of the 10 newly-built stadiums in South Korea, he is pleased with what he has seen.

"I don't know about the other facilities outside the stadiums for people who are visiting," he said.

"It's not my big concern. For me, the stadiums are very well equipped. I think Europeans will be surprised how it's organised and how the stadiums are."

There are 10 venues in Japan, the other co-hosts.

South Korean fans are eagerly looking forward to the World Cup, which starts on May 31.

If, in the coming eight months, Guus Hiddink can do enough to ensure a respectable showing in the finals, he will earn his hosts' eternal gratitude.

And he may even manage to restore just a little Dutch pride.