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| Pim Verbeek, second from left, runs with the Korean national football team players during a training session in Sinai, Yemen, in this file photo from May 2007. He passed away on Thursday in the Netherlands. /Korea Times file |
By Jon Duerden
Thursday was a sad day for South Korean soccer as Pim Verbeek passed away in his Netherlands home surrounded by his family.
The Dutchman first arrived in Seoul back in 2000 as an assistant to Guus Hiddink and they took the entire nation on a roller-coaster ride reaching the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup. For that, Verbeek, just 63 when he died after a lengthy battle with cancer, will remain in the hearts of fans in the Land of the Morning Calm forever.
His relationship with the country went beyond the 2002 World Cup however. Long before he finally left in 2007, Verbeek also had a special place in his heart for Korea.
Living in an apartment that was part of the Hilton Hotel in northern Seoul, he was located around halfway between Seoul World Cup Stadium and the offices of the Korea Football Association.
It was convenient for that though was not the best of neighborhoods to wander around as the Naebu Expressway cuts right through it but wander he would, as much as possible, until the attention sent him back inside.
Go to a restaurant with Verbeek and invariably, other diners would arrive at the table for a photo and with a present in hand, often a bottle of spirits that were given to a man who did not drink but accepted them with a smile.
There would usually be a 'thank you for 2002' and more smiles. He never ceased to be amazed at the 24-hour energy of the capital and the friendliness of its residents.
I interviewed him in October 2005 just after he returned to the country as assistant to Dick Advocaat. Like always, you had to wait your turn until photos had been taken.
"I understand that people, like me, have happy memories of 2002?but it does make it difficult to do things," Verbeek said. "Before it was easy. You saw here (he referred to the departing crowds) and that happens on the street too. It's very nice but it does make it difficult to do things." He always said that being famous was the least interesting part of the job.
Despite the attention, he was very happy to be back. "When I came here in 2001, everything was new, the people, the facilities, the way of playing football. When I arrived here again, it felt like coming home ― call me stupid but that's the way it is."
After the 2006 World Cup, Advocaat returned to Europe but Verbeek stayed and took the head coach job. At the 2007 Asian Cup, he led the Taeguk Warriors to third place, defeating Japan in his last game in charge. He was not on the bench for the final minutes however as he had been sent off by the referee for overzealous protests.
It was a rare public display of passion from the cool Dutchman but one that demonstrated just how much it all meant to him.
Verbeek stepped down within days. He was soon taking a job in Australia, taking the team to the 2010 World Cup where it almost got out of a tough group containing Germany, Ghana and Serbia.
Then it was to Morocco and then his final job, Oman. That was perhaps his favorite, and in 2018 he led the small nation to the Gulf Cup title, the best team in West Asia.?
He left there in January after the Asian Cup, finally ready to return home and stay there. It was the last time I saw him.
The talk was, naturally, of soccer but also of family. Pim Verbeek loved the beautiful game but his beautiful family, wife Anneke and his daughters were more important. His passing will be mourned in his hometown of Rotterdam and all around the Netherlands and also in the many countries where he made a difference and made friends ― not least South Korea.
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