It’s never a pleasant thing to hear when someone passes away, especially when they were seen as a punching bag after their tenure ended with the team.
Former Socceroos manager Pim Verbeek lost his battle with cancer at the age of 63, prompting a wave of tributes to a guy who was a lot more successful in the role than we remember.
Let’s not forget he got Australia to the 2010 World Cup with games to spare, something both Holger Osieck and Ange Postecoglou didn’t manage.
Plus with the AFC at the time insisting on playing some of the Asian Cup qualifiers outside of international dates, he managed to get to the tournament having to rely on A-League players, which he was not a fan of.
Sure some of his comments on the local league sounded like an angry Sokkah Twitter account at times, & his steadfast refusal to alter his approach to accommodate Scott Macdonald might have grated a few people but it was at least effective.
Unfortunately for his legacy in Australia, most people remember the 4-0 battering at the hands of Germany in Durban, where he essentially ended Australia’s campaign by playing a 4-6-0 formation and forcing them to play catch up for the rest of the tournament, a similar story to 2014 and 2018 though.
Of course some remember Richard Garcia having a shot cleared off the line in the third minute that might have changed things just a little bit.
There were plenty of good moments that need a bit more attention instead of just the Germany game, including giving a debut to Mile Jedinak in Singapore in March 2008.
Anyway, perhaps all that’s left to say is Vale Pim.
Aussie Pim 🇦🇺
Dutch origin, but Australian at heart.
Rest in peace 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/784cLxerof
— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) November 28, 2019
Football Federation Australia is deeply saddened to have learned of the passing of former Australia national team coach Pim Verbeek, who has died at the age of 63.https://t.co/Nb6yE2NL9K
— Football Australia (@FootballAUS) November 28, 2019
Missed the early NFL games today? Don’t worry there’s still Saints-Falcons at lunchtime and a huge slate of games Monday including the Ravens-49ers game which will be well worth waking up for. Check out our weekly tips here!
Thanksgiving doesn’t mean much to the majority of Australians, but it does to NFL fans.
It means we are treated to three excellent games this Friday!
We have analysed every game set to take place this weekend and our complete #NFL100 Week 13 tips can be found below!
— Neds (@NedsAus) November 27, 2019