Legendary former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink will come out of retirement to help his former assistant Graham Arnold when the Socceroos return home for the farewell match and 100th-anniversary celebrations in Brisbane next month.
Arnold was an assistant to Hiddink during the Dutchman’s 11-month tenure as Socceroos coach, which culminated with Australia ending their 32-year World Cup exile with a famous penalty shootout win over Uruguay, and reaching the round of 16 at Germany in 2006.
But now ‘Aussie Guus’ is returning to Australia.
Arnold invited 75-year-old Hiddink to help prepare the squad at their next camp in Brisbane for the match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium on September 22.
The game will not only be the Socceroos’ farewell match ahead of this year’s World Cup in Qatar but it will also serve as an occasion to celebrate the national team’s 100th anniversary.
“I am very delighted to go (to Brisbane) because every now and then when I talk about my career with people, I always highlight my experience with the Socceroos,” Hiddink said.
“It was for me a wonderful time. This is one chapter in my career which gave me a lot of energy.
“I met very kind people and very open-minded people, which I liked very much.
I had a lot of good people in my staff. The lead man was of course ‘Arnie’, who gave me a lot of information about players, and I needed his information and his contribution.
”We worked very well together.”
Arnold served as Hiddink’s assistant when Australia defeated Uruguay at Stadium Australia on November 16, 2005 to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, and was also at his side in Germany.
It was a golden era for the Socceroos and now Arnold is hoping Hiddink's influence can rub off on the current squad.
Hiddink also said that Arnold played a key role in Australia's success in 2006 and hailed his progression to the head coach role of the Socceroos.
“I think Graham Arnold made a tremendous achievement, tremendous development in his coaching career,” Hiddink explained.
“I knew him, of course, as a player in the early days in the Dutch league, that he was very committed as well.
“If you see what he has achieved club-wise… but also now with this achievement of the Olympic team and also with the national team, he has done a great job.”