Guus Hiddink born 8 November 1946 in Varsseveld . He has several nicknames like "King Hiddink," Guus Geluk (Dutch for Disney's Gladstone Gander) or "The Goose." Hiddink started out as a player in amateur club SC Varsseveld's youth side. He turned professional, signing on for Dutch club De Graafschap in 1967. He would spend most of his playing career there and is a big fan of the club to this day. He joined PSV Eindhoven in 1970, but after failing to win a permanent position in the team, he rejoined De Graafschap after just one year and remained there until 1976. He also had stints in the North American Soccer League in the United States with Washington Diplomats and San Jose Earthquakes before returning home to sign for NEC Nijmegen. In 1981, he rejoined De Graafschap and retired a year later. He generally played as a midfielder during his playing days

April 10, 2006 Guss Hiddink manager of the Russia national football team. He signed a 2½-year contract worth US$2.4 million a year plus bonuses, with an option for another two years, on April 14, 2006. His duties for Russia started after World Cup, and the team's first match with Hiddink as coach was a friendly on 16 August 2006 against Latvia. Piet de Visser, a former head scout of Hiddink's club PSV Eindhoven and now a personal assistant to Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, recommended Hiddink to the Chelsea owner.

Russia's euro qualification hopes came in question after a 2-1 loss to Israel however after a win against Andorra, and England losing out to Croatia on the last match day, Russia and Hiddink go through to the Euro 2008 tournament. He has yet to sign an extended contract.

MANAGERIAL POSITION

Awards