Pim Verbeek, the man who guided Australia to the 2010 World Cup, has died from cancer at the age of 63, the Dutch media reported on Thursday.

Verbeek, who spent his entire professional playing career at Sparta Rotterdam before retiring when he was 25, also managed the South Korean and Oman national teams and was assistant coach of the Koreans at the 2002, when they reached the semi-finals, and 2006 World Cups. Verbeek took over as coach of Australia in 2007, just weeks before the World Cup qualifying began after Dick Advocaat, who had already signed a deal to lead the Socceroos, chose instead to head for Zenit St Petersburg.