Guus Hiddink’s stint as the manager of Netherlands National Football Team boss is just two and half months long, but, it’s on the verge of getting over.
Yes, as weird as it may sound, but, it’s the truth.
Hiddink is feeling quite a bit of heat and he has publicly said that one more defeat would make him send his resignation letter to the Royal Dutch Football Association.
Holland’s slump after the World Cup is quite remarkable. It’s not that a lot of the senior players have suddenly retired and the team has had to go through transition.
Most of the guys are still there, active and playing, but, for some reason, they have not been able to put their acts together on the pitch.
It can’t be the fault of Hiddink alone, but, he seems to be ready to take the full responsibility.
According to Hiddink, the result of the game between Netherlands and Latvia, that is to be played in a couple of days’ time, would decide whether he is staying or not.
Yesterday, Hiddink was quoted saying, “If we are beaten in the next game, I would probably be quitting.”
Latvia is at no. 99 in the official rakings of FIFA at the moment, much below Netherlands and thus, it would be an embarrassment for the Dutch to come second to them. But, that is very much possible given their form these days.
The path was never going to be smooth for Hiddink actually when he took over last year.
The 68-year old was replacing Louis Van Gaal and thus, he was supposed to maintain the level of consistency that the previous Dutch boss had shown during his time, but, it has been an exact opposite of that for Hiddink so far. He just has one win under his belt.