Dutch treat so far

FREIBURG, Germany – The Netherlands has one unbeaten team and four unbeaten coaches at the World Cup.

The quartet – in charge of the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia and Trinidad and Tobago – earned three wins and a draw from its opening games.

One of them, Guus Hiddink, has already taken the Netherlands and South Korea to World Cup semifinals before taking on the job of coaching Australia. Now, after Australia’s 3-1 comeback win over Japan on Monday, he’s the first coach to guide teams from three confederations to World Cup wins.

Just two weeks ago, Hiddink was still putting his players through one hard physical session after another, leaving some shaking their heads and asking what the point was of such fatigue. Exhaustion had bred resistance and resilience under the hot afternoon sun.

“Because of the way he prepared us, he gets the best out of us,” forward Marco Bresciano said.

Leo Beenhakker is charged with guiding tiny Trinidad and Tobago. He used his experience coaching the Netherlands at the 1990 World Cup and stints in Spain, Mexico and Saudi Arabia to earn Saturday’s surprise 0-0 draw against Sweden.

When his team was down to 10 men because of a red card early in the second half, he did not do the obvious and beef up the Soca Warriors’ defense. He instead put on another striker to make sure Sweden would always need to keep defenders back.

The Netherlands is relying on a virtual rookie in Marco Van Basten to lead its team. At 41, he’s the youngest coach at the World Cup and he had little experience when he was hired in 2004.

But Van Basten isn’t exactly the typical newcomer. A star forward in the late 1980s and 1990s, he played for the Dutch when they won the 1988 European Championship and was the world player of the year in 1992. He retired three years later because of permanent cartilage decay in his ankle.

That leaves South Korea and Dick Advocaat, who took over for Hiddink.

The Dutch veteran looked in trouble Tuesday when his Red Devils were trailing lightly regarded Togo 1-0 after a terrible first half. But he managed to inspire them to a 2-1 win.

Advocaat, who led the Netherlands at the 1994 World Cup, introduced a fourth attacker in Ahn Jung-hwan, and the ploy paid off.

“We wanted to put some more pressure on (Ahn),” Advocaat said. “Well, that worked all right.”

As have all the Dutch coaches’ moves so far.