“If you lost, you had to report to the Rwandan generals. Fortunately, we didn’t lose often”

Like older brother Guus, René Hiddink always seemed destined for the dugout, although the early stages of his coaching career were spent at amateur level rather than at the very top. He coached tiny Dutch sides AD’69, Sint Joris and VVG’25 – unlike Guus, who earned global recognition after leading the Netherlands and South Korea to the semi-finals of the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.

Perhaps René wasn’t as ambitious as Guus, who has also managed European giants Real Madrid, Valencia, PSV and Chelsea (twice). In addition to his time at amateur clubs, René also worked as a coach at sometime Eredivisie yo-yo club De Graafschap and as assistant manager in the Eerste Divisie with Dordrecht. The latter role also involved duties as a scout and opposition analyst.

Working on a part-time basis, he still had time to work for the family business, Hiddink Sport Management. “We recently recorded a commercial for a large pizza chain in South Korea,” Rene proudly boasted in a 2006 interview.

When René left Dordrecht in 2011, he was offered a coaching role in Rwanda by Armée Patriotique Rwandaise FC, an army club based in Kigali. “I spoke with Guus and he advised me to do it,” René explained. “It was a great year. We had a really good team and conquered both the league title and the cup.”

Despite his success working at APR, Hiddink occasionally had to report to the barracks. “If you lost a game, you had to report to the generals,”,” he revealed. “They They would ask for an explanation, as they expected you to win every match. We would then say: ‘Don’t worry, General’. Fortunately, we didn’t lose often.”

He later worked as a youth coach at Red Bull Ghana, and as head of the youth academy at Saint George FC in the Ethiopian first division. He didn’t last very long in either post, but at least René has the sort of international experience to which his brother has become accustomed.