Robert Verbeek

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Robert Verbeek (born 1951) is a Dutch former footballer and nowadays manager who is currently in charge of Japanese team Omiya Ardija. Verbeek is the younger brother of South Korea manager Pim Verbeek. As a player he featured for Sparta Rotterdam, where he retired at the age of 31.

Verbeek is an experienced coach whose strength lies in the development of youth players. He started his coaching career following his retirement as a youth coach at Sparta Rotterdam and also worked for amateur teams Neptunus and Unitas. In 1988 he was appointed by PSV Eindhoven, where he worked with the under 19 squad for a total period of eight years. In this period he assisted coaches like Guus Hiddink and Sir Bobby Robson. He worked with famous players like Romario, Ronaldo, Boudewijn Zenden and several others, which became famous after their spell with PSV. From 1996 to 2000 he started as a head coach and managed FC Dordrecht, but did not book any notible results and the team balanced in half way positions in the Eerste Divisie.

In 2000 he coached Amsterdam based ambitious amateur side FC Turkiyemspor, but moved to the United Arab Emirates a year later to coach both Al-Jazeera Club and Al-Shabbab. On 1 January 2004 he returned to the Netherlands and started at FC Dordrecht for the second time, this time to replace Jos van Eck. In March of 2005 he decided to leave the club due to disappointing results and to try his luck abroad. FC Dordrecht had already appointed Jurrie Koolhof as their new manager for the upcoming season. As a result he was appointed by the Singaporean football association, where he coached the Singapore under 15 and under 16 squads.