Holland manager Bert van Marwijk excited by World Coach of the Year nod
Holland national team coach Bert van Marwijk says that he is delighted to have been nominated for the inaugural FIFA World Coach of the Year award.
Van Marwijk led his men to the 2010 FIFA World Cup final in South Africa, where they fell at the last hurdle against Spain. But the Dutch bounced back quickly, and they have won all four of their UEFA 2012 European Football Championship qualifying matches
to date.
As a result of his success this year, van Marwijk has been nominated by FIFA as the world’s best coach.
After discovering that he had been shortlisted via the teletext service, he said, "I saw to my surprise that I was on the list of nominees for the 2010 FIFA World Coach of the Year. I knew nothing about it. Silver [second place] remains silver, but it does
indicate that there is an appreciation for what we have done at the World Cup.
"I remember that I was nominated for the European equivalent when we won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord (in 2002). Everyone was able to cast their vote. A nomination is fun, and I will wait quietly to see how I go in this one."
Holland was undefeated in their run to the World Cup final, seeing off Denmark, Japan, Cameroon, Slovakia, Brazil and Uruguay in the process, before losing world footfall’s showpiece match 1-0 after extra time-their only defeat this year.
In their Euro 2012 qualification campaign, Holland has won against San Marino, Finland, Moldova and Sweden.
The other nominees for the award include Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea; Vicente del Bosque, Spain; Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United; Pep Guardiola, Barcelona; Joachim Loew, Germany; Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan and Real Madrid; Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay; Louis
Van Gaal, Bayern Munich; and Arsene Wenger, Arsenal.
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