New Socceroos coach calls up his son-in-law
BERT van Marwijk’s son-inlaw and right-hand man Mark van Bommel is set to assist the new Socceroos coach.
Netherlands great van Bommel worked under countryman van Marwijk as he coached Saudi Arabia to direct Asian qualification for this year’s World Cup in Russia.
Van Marwijk said the 40year-old van Bommel’s appointment as a Socceroos assistant coach was important given their previous working relationship.
“Yes, that was very important to me,” he told Dutch newspaper NRC after signing a short-term contract with Foot- ball Federation Australia that expires at the end of the Russia 2018 World Cup.
“The Australian federation figured as much already, but if they hadn’t I would have stated it as a condition.
“I want Mark with me. I have worked with him for two years in Saudi Arabia, but I also regularly see him working as a coach for the under-19s of PSV Eindhoven. He is immensely driven.”
Van Marwijk, 65, said van Bommel’s age meant he would be able to connect with players.
“What I noticed earlier with Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu is that this generation of footballers has exactly the right distance to the current players,” he said.
“They are older, but not so old that no one recognises them anymore.”
Former midfielder van Bommel, the husband of van Marwijk’s daughter Andra, captained the Netherlands and had successful club stints with PSV Eindhoven and Bayern Munich. Van Marwijk coached van Bommel when the Nether- lands reached the final of the 2010 World Cup.
FFA is yet to confirm van Bommel’s appointment.
Van Marwijk, who said he took up the Australian role for the challenge, also bemoaned the circumstances around his Saudi Arabia exit amid reports he was unable to come to terms with the country’s officials for a new contract.
“I am mostly happy that this way I can still go to the WC,” he said.
“With Saudi Arabia I qualified as well, but once we secured the ticket all sorts of officials started interfering in my work. I didn’t fancy that.”