Former Holland boss Bert van Marwijk will lead Australia at the World Cup in Russia. The 65-year-old Dutchman, who took his own nation to the final of the 2010 tournament in South Africa, where they were beaten by Spain, succeeds Ange Postecoglou. Van Marwijk secured Saudi Arabia's qualification for this summer's tournament in Russia - competing against Australia in the process - but left his role as manager after failing to agree a new contract.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Steven Lowy told socceroos.com.au: "This is a great result for Australian football. Bert van Marwijk is world class.
"He took Holland to the World Cup Final in 2010, he led the Saudi Arabian team to qualify directly for this year's finals and most importantly, he knows a lot about our team and how they play because he studied them closely as an opposition manager in the same group.
"These experiences make him a compelling choice."
Australia face the tough challenge of emerging from a group that features France, Denmark and Peru. Van Marwijk, who has also coached Feyenoord, Hamburg and Borussia Dortmund, said: "I know a lot about the players and how the team has been playing after coaching against them for the two World Cup qualifiers, in 2016 and in June last year.
"I have also been impressed by the national team set-up that the FFA has developed over the past few years. I want to thank Steven Lowy, (FFA chief executive) David Gallop and (FFA head of national performance) Luke Casserly for the confidence they have shown in me.
My response to them has been that we are not going to Russia just to be competitive. I want to win our matches. The FFA said it would make an announcement about longer-term arrangements for the leadership of the Socceroos "in the near future".
