Bert van Marwijk


Lambertus "Bert" van Marwijk is a Dutch football manager who last managed United Arab Emirates national team. As a footballer, he played for the Go Ahead Eagles, AZ, MVV and Fortuna Sittard amongst other clubs, and represented the Netherlands once.
In 1982, van Marwijk began his transition into a manager, retiring as a player in 1988 and becoming a full-time manager. In 2002, he won the UEFA Cup with Feyenoord. Van Marwijk managed the Netherlands from 2008 until June 2012 and guided the country to the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, which was lost 1–0 in extra-time to Spain. He left this position after the Netherlands lost all of their three matches at UEFA Euro 2012. Van Marwijk is the father-in-law of former Netherlands international Mark van Bommel. He coached the Australian national team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Playing career

Van Marwijk was born in Deventer, Overijssel. As a forward and a midfielder, he played 393 matches in the Dutch highest division, the Eredivisie. He began his career at Go Ahead Eagles, his hometown club. After six seasons, he left Deventer and started to play in Alkmaar, for AZ. In 1978, he moved to MVV Maastricht, playing there for eight seasons before playing one season for Fortuna Sittard. He ended his playing career in 1988 after playing one season for the Belgium Football Club Assent. Van Marwijk had opportunities to play for bigger clubs like Feyenoord or West Ham United, but because of injuries he never made a big transfer.
In 1975, van Marwijk was called up by Rinus Michels to play for the Dutch national team in a friendly match against Yugoslavia, which was his only cap.

Managerial career

Early years

Van Marwijk began his professional managerial career at his former club Fortuna Sittard. His side finished seventh in the Eredivisie in 1998, and reached the KNVB Cup final in 1999. Fortuna had players like Mark van Bommel, Kevin Hofland and Wilfred Bouma during that period.

Feyenoord

In 2000, van Marwijk became the manager of Rotterdam-based club Feyenoord. In his first season, he led Feyenoord to a second-place finish in the Eredivisie and in his second season, 2001–02, he had one of the biggest successes of his career. After beating SC Freiburg, Rangers, PSV and Internazionale in the knock-out stage, he won the UEFA Cup final after beating Borussia Dortmund in the final, 3–2. Feyenoord ended in third place in the league with van Marwijk in the 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons. In July 2004, he became manager of German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund; he was succeeded at Feyenoord by Ruud Gullit.

Borussia Dortmund

In both of his first two seasons with Dortmund, 2004–05 and 2005–06, van Marwijk ended seventh in the Bundesliga table. During his third season, his side was stagnating, situated mid-table in ninth, whereupon van Marwijk and the club announced that they would part ways at the end of the 2006–07 season. On 18 December, however, Dortmund and van Marwijk parted company earlier than announced; he was replaced by Jürgen Röber.

Feyenoord

In June 2007, van Marwijk returned to Feyenoord, also bringing back Feyenoord veteran Giovanni van Bronckhorst from Barcelona. He also brought in Tim de Cler, Kevin Hofland and Roy Makaay, and with this team Feyenoord squad, he won the KNVB Cup in 2008 after beating Roda JC 2–0 in the final.

Netherlands national team

Van Marwijk's return to Feyenoord would be short-lived; before the end of the 2007–08 season, it was announced van Marwijk would succeed Marco van Basten as head coach of the Dutch national team after UEFA Euro 2008. During his two spells as coach of Feyenoord, five seasons in total, they would finish second once, in 2000–01. Van Marwijk was succeeded at Feyenoord by Gertjan Verbeek.
Van Marwijk's management staff as Dutch coach included former internationals Frank de Boer and Phillip Cocu, as well as Dick Voorn. In the 2010 World Cup, van Marwijk led the Dutch to the final against Spain after defeating Slovakia in the round of 16, Brazil in the quarter-finals and Uruguay in the semi-finals. They lost, however, 1–0 in extra time. He opted for a very hard style of play, especially during the final, in strong contrast with the Dutch football tradition.
On 8 December 2011, van Marwijk extended his contract with the Royal Dutch Football Association for four more years through to the summer of 2016, including participation in the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 tournaments. At the Euro 2012 tournament, however, the Dutch ended up without a single point and being widely criticized, prompting van Marwijk to resign on 27 June.

Hamburg

On 26 September 2013, van Marwijk became the head coach of German side Hamburger SV after refusing offers from Southampton and Sporting CP. On 8 February, Hamburg lost for their sixth consecutive league match and gave up three goals in their fifth-straight league match. The supervisory board at Hamburg met on 9 February 2014 to discuss the future of van Marwijk, opting to let him continue in his role. He was then, however, sacked on 15 February after Hamburg lost 4–2 to Eintracht Braunschweig. Hamburg had lost seven-straight league matches and a DFB-Pokal loss to Bayern Munich. His assistant coach, Roel Coumans, was sacked as well. Van Marwijk lasted 143 days at the helm of Hamburg.

Saudi Arabia

On 26 August 2015, van Marwijk became the new manager of the Saudi Arabia national team on a one-year contact. On 3 September 2015, he managed his first game, winning 7–0 against East Timor at the 2018 Asian World Cup qualifiers. On 24 March 2016, he clinched qualification to the third round by winning 2–0 against Malaysia. After criticism from local media for not staying in the country and watching league games, van Marwijk helped Saudi Arabia to directly qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in their last game against Japan. Saudi Arabia qualified for their fifth FIFA World Cup and first since Germany 2006. But days after their last qualifying match, van Marwijk left the Saudi Arabia post having been unable to agree on a new contract with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.

Australia

On 24 January 2018, van Marwijk was appointed as the new head coach of the Australia national soccer team. On 8 March 2018, it was announced that he will be replaced as Australian coach by Graham Arnold after the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

UAE

On 20 March 2019, van Marwijk became the new manager of the UAE national team. On 4 December 2019, UAE Football Association announced the sacking of van Marwijk following their 4-2 defeat to Qatar in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup.

Career statistics

Player

Manager

Netherlands matches

Saudi Arabia matches

Australia matches

United Arab Emirates matches

Honours

Player

;AZ
;MVV Maastricht
;Feyenoord
;Netherlands