Van Marwijk a success story

– Australia’s crunch World Cup match against Peru today could be Bert van Marwijk’s last game in charge but the no-nonsense Dutchman has already left a deep impression during his short time in charge.

Managing the weakest team in a group boasting France and Denmark, Van Marwijk was given little hope of leading the team through to the knockout rounds.

Given that the 36th-ranked Socceroos are still very much alive, his short tenure can be seen as something of a success.

Australia need to beat 11thranked Peru in Sochi and hope France defeat Denmark to have a chance of reaching the last 16.

The Socceroos’ fate may be out of their hands – goal difference may ultimately deny them – but Van Marwijk (above) is convinced the seas will part for them.

“I hope and I think that we will stay here in Kazan,” a relaxed Van Marwijk told reporters. “I think the players of France, they also have their own pride, they won two times but they didn’t play well and they want to prove to the whole world that they are one of the best teams.”

Hired only for the World Cup and with successor Graham Arnold already anointed, Van Marwijk was tasked with a rush job for Russia, given a handful of games to mould a modestly resourced team into a competitive unit.

Despite lacking world-class players, a sports-mad Australian public inevitably heaps great expectations on their national teams and Van Marwijk, asked whether he was proud of his team’s performances, said: “I’m not the type who is the whole day proud. If you can organise a good team, you do not always need the best players. The last step is that we have to reward ourselves for the work we do.” – Reuters

Kazan