Word: hiddink
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...country's top football league and its football federation. And the largesse isn't flowing exclusively to the pro game: Abramovich contributes $55 million each year to Russia's fledgling youth development system. The London exile also paid the $2.65 million two-year contract to lure Dutch coach Guus Hiddink to Russia, hoping that he would work the same miracle with the national squad that he did during stints with South Korea and Australia...
...traveling East, Asia's top players are heading West: several of Japan's and Korea's national squad members already play in Europe, and another handful from Korea's newly ascendant team are now being courted by Western clubs. "Football promotes diversity," says South Korea's national coach, Guus Hiddink, a Dutchman. "That is the mission of the World Cup." More than most, Asia's tournament has lived up to that ideal...
...BEST COACH Korea's Guus Hiddink has done more to put Asian soccer on the map than any number of Nakatas or Ahn Jung Hwans. His simple rule?if you're good and fit, you play?was revolutionary in a country where seniority squelches the talented. Honorable Mentions: Senegal's Bruno Metsu, Japan's Philippe Troussier and Turkey's Senol Gunes...
...Indeed, what the Dutch coach may have contributed most to his side was a sense of confidence. "Most people have never heard of these Korean players," says Luis Figo, the legendary Portuguese striker. "But they believed in themselves, and that strength has carried them very far." So popular has Hiddink's "can do" approach become that his advice is being heeded even in Korea's boardrooms. Conglomerates like Samsung and LG are clamoring to have him speak at company retreats. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul is even offering a course in "Dutch Leadership," whatever that...
...Hiddink has profited from the adulation. In addition to his $2 million coaching contract, he has been awarded $3 million-plus in bonuses for having brought his team this far in the Cup. So loved is Hiddink that he has been offered honorary citizenship, a landmark in Korean history. "People say I took a risk by coming to Korea," says Hiddink. "But this country has offered me more than I could imagine in return...