Guus Hiddink is back – Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan unlikely

Guus Hiddinck and Asamoah Gyan
Guus Hiddinck and Asamoah Gyan come out of obscurity

He is a myth among national coaches: Guus Hiddink. Among other things, he reached the semi-finals with his home country Holland in 1998. However, Guus Hiddink achieved his status as a legend primarily by reaching the semi-finals with South Korea at the 2002 World Cup. Four years later, he achieved another unexpected success with Australia when he led the team to the last 16. He has also won several titles as a club coach.

Not all stages of his career were crowned with success. In Turkey or Russia, for example, more was expected of the successful coach. But he failed with both teams in the qualifying rounds.
His last coaching station was a sunny engagement on the Caribbean island of Curacao. In September 2021, he declared his coaching career over.

For at least one game: Reunited with Graham Arnold

Now, however, Guus Hiddink has agreed to temporarily assist Australia in an advisory capacity in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He will be at the Socceroos’ camp in Brisbane for the match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium on 22 September. The match will be Australia’s last home game before the trip to Qatar and will also mark the 100th anniversary of Australia’s FA. Current Australia coach Graham Arnold was once Hiddink’s assistant coach at the 2006 World Cup.

Asamoah Gyan wants to be the next Roger Milla

Meanwhile, another great has emerged from obscurity: Ghana football legend Asamoah Gyan has not played a game since April 2021. However, he is now calling for his participation in the 2022 World Cup. “I just need to get fit again. It can be a big surprise for everyone,” claimed “Baby Jet”, referring to the legendary performance of the ageing Roger Milla at the 1990 World Cup. However, it is unlikely that coach Otto Addo, who has a huge pool of players at his disposal, will accept the offer.

Max Stargard

By Max Stargard

Even as a child, I started typing the results of the Bundesliga with my friends at school. The stakes were modest back then: The lunch, a few marbles or maybe a milk slice. Then, at the age of 9, I played the penalty bet once - and immediately got 10 right. The previous week I had won 500 DM and in my childish imagination I was already imagining how many football pictures I could buy at the kiosk on the corner. Unfortunately, it was one of those match days when everything turned out as expected and I only won DM 8.10. Nevertheless, I followed the game with great interest. Nevertheless, the passion to correctly predict the outcome of sporting events haunted me for the rest of my life. I would have loved to own the sports almanac that Marty McFly bought in Back to the Future II. Much later, when I was already working as a journalist for newspapers and as a writer for television, I came across an international betting forum with over 100,000 members - and found out that a lot of people there were giving their tips on German football, but nobody seemed to have a real clue, so I wrote a few English-language preliminary reports with a few tips - and was right about everything. After that, an avalanche started. I got offers from bookmakers, sports papers and even betting syndicates to work for them - and I accepted a few of them too, experiencing the ups & downs of sports betting and travelling halfway around the world in the years that followed. There I met Chinese multimillionaires betting five to six figures, amateur players in Serbia or Turkey supporting their families with small stakes, South Africans gambling away half their fortune, Brazilians who could only leave their favelha and become rich by making the right tips. At one point my life was similar to Matthew McCaughaney's in the film Two For The Money - and far too much stress. I subsequently moved to another continent and ran an English-language football epaper about the Bundesliga from there. After the birth of my son, I devoted myself for many years only to artistic projects in the field of photography and literature. However, I am happy to share my knowledge and passion with the readers of bettingtipsafrica.