Netherlands Hires Ronald Koeman as New National Team Manager

Koeman had been out of work since being fired by Everton in October.

Former Everton, Southampton and Feyenoord manager Ronald Koeman has returned to football to take charge of the Netherlands national team on a four-and-a-half year contract.

Koeman has been out of work since being sacked by Everton in October last year after a surprisingly poor start to the Premier League season and will take his first role international role since working as an assistant coach with the Dutch team in the late 1990s.

Having retired from playing in 1997, that was Koeman's first coaching job, assisting head coach Guus Hiddink as the Oranje finished fourth at the World Cup the following year.

Ronald Koeman en Nico-Jan Hoogma tekenen contract: https://t.co/ONw1r3G7HR #WelkomRonald #WelkomNicoJan pic.twitter.com/yzdXcNYGMQ

— KNVB (@KNVB) February 6, 2018

Now 54 years of age and with two decades of coaching and management under his belt, Koeman will succeed short-term boss Dick Advocaat in the hot-seat. His long-term contract will take in the new UEFA Nations League, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup campaign.

Since finishing third at the 2014 World Cup under Louis van Gaal, the Netherlands have endured a rocky few years. The team failed to qualify for both Euro 2016 and the World Cup in 2018, with the path of internal coaching progression left in tatters.

Hiddink had succeeded Van Gaal in 2014, with a view to grooming Danny Blind to take over and lead a new generation. But Blind was dismissed in March 2017 when World Cup qualification received a significant blow with a defeat against Bulgaria.

Advocaat then arrived for a third spell in charge of the national side, but at 70 years of age and having failed to rescue World Cup qualification, left his role at the end of 2017.

Koeman's first game in charge will be a friendly against England in Amsterdam in March.

He is the second successive former Everton manager to move into international football immediately after his dismissal by the Toffees, with Roberto Martinez surprisingly taking over the Belgian national team three months after leaving Goodison Park in 2016.