UAE coach Bert van Marwijk
Doha: UAE coach Bert van Marwijk led the Netherlands to the 2010 FIFA World Cup final and now he has been given the task of taking the Gulf nation to new heights. The veteran Dutchman has competed on the biggest stage and still describes leading his native country to the 2010 Final as his best experience in football.
Highlights in South Africa were many and varied – “this could be a very long discussion” he told FIFA.com but the Netherlands’ famous quarter-final win over Brazil stands out. “That’s a game I can never forget because, from the first second, the Brazilians seemed two times bigger and two times faster than us. I remember telling Frank de Boer, my assistant, ‘I’ll be happy if we get to half-time losing just 1-0’.”
They did, of course, and emerged as a different team in the second half to produce a stirring, Wesley Sneijder-inspired comeback. The memories – and lessons - endure for their coach, who reflected: “As a coach, I stress to my players about ‘being themselves’. But that’s easy to say and not so easy to do, especially at these big tournaments. We saw how tough it can be in that first half.”
Bert van Marwijk celebrates with his players at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The challenge of enabling his players to shine is one that Van Marwijk relishes nonetheless, and experiences from 2010 and two decades-plus of top-level coaching will shape his approach to the upcoming FIFA Arab Cup.
His UAE side arrived at the tournament fresh from a recent 1-0 win in Lebanon that revived their FIFA World Cup qualifying hopes and, as the 69-year-old explained, they kick off in Qatar tomorrow with the trophy in their sights.
Van Marwijk thinks the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 it’s good for UAE because they are still in the middle of developing a team.
“It’s also good for the players who’ll be competing because it’s in the country, and the stadiums, where the World Cup will take place next year. That makes it a very good test for them. I already had the experience of a tournament in Qatar last year (at the Gulf Cup) and I know that the weather conditions will be good and that the standard of the stadiums and pitches is very high. That’s important. We’ve just come from playing a qualifier on a pitch that was tough to play good football on, and it changes the game,” Van Marwijk said,
Van Marwijk thinks his team should be ready to go all the way to chase Arab Cup title glory in Qatar.
“If you go, you want to win. That will not be easy because there are strong teams here, higher in the World Ranking than us. So it’s a big challenge. But I’m taking my strongest team. And although it will be a great learning experience, and good preparation for those last four games in [World Cup] qualifying, we go – as we always do – with the aim of winning every game,” Van Marwijk said.
