Ronald koeman new national coach of the netherlands

Ronald koeman to lead dutch soccer out of the crisis. The 54-year-old former international signed a four-year contract as the new bonds coach in zeist on tuesday.

After failed attempts with guus hiddink, danny blind and dick advocaat and missing out on the european championship in 2016 and the world cup this year, hopes now rest squarely on the 1988 european champion.

"I know it won’t be easy, but i’m confident anyway. I see a lot of future in the team," koeman said at his presentation. The former defender has a clear mandate to lead the oranje team to the 2020 european championship and two years later to the world cup in qatar.

The first test for koeman, however, will be the newly created nations league, in which the oranje team will compete on 13. October and on 19. November meets the german national team. Another opponent is france.

The KNVB’s new sports director will be former hamburg bundesliga professional nico-jan hoogma. Hoogma, who most recently worked in his home country for first division club heracles almelo, has also been offered a contract until 2022.

"We don’t have the best players, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a good team," koeman said. And with a view to the european championship in two years’ time, which will be held in twelve european countries, koeman said: "it’s high time we were back in a tournament."He will have to do without bayern star arjen robben, who ended his playing career after missing the world cup in russia.

For koeman, who was last coach of the english premier club FC everton until october 2017, a "long-awaited wish" is coming true, in his own words. "I am super excited and find it a great challenge and an absolute honor to be bondcoach of the netherlands team for the next years."For this he also rejected the warning of his wife. "She told me that as a bond coach i would get 18 million opinions."