Guus Hiddink has been announced as the next coach of Holland and will take charge of the national team at the end of the World Cup, replacing Louis van Gaal.
In an unusual move, the Dutch football association, the KNVB, confirmed Hiddink's contract would run only to the end of Euro 2016, after which time assistant coach Danny Blind will assume control and lead the bid for qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Former Holland and Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy also joins the coaching set-up as an assistant to 67-year-old Hiddink, working alongside Blind.
The outgoing Van Gaal, who comfortably led Holland to World Cup qualification, confirmed last year that he would not look to extend his deal beyond this summer's tournament in Brazil, and has been linked with the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham.
Friday's announcement confirms Hiddink's second spell in charge of the Oranje, having previously led his country for three and a half years from 1995, culminating in a fourth-placed finish at the 1998 World Cup in France.
In a statement, the KNVB confirmed: "Guus Hiddink, Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy form the new technical staff of the Dutch team.
"They go to work after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The KNVB has a contract agreed with Hiddink that connects him from 1 August 2014 to the European Championship in 2016 in France as coach. Blind and Van Nistelrooy are appointed for the same period as an assistant coach.
"After Euro 2016, Blind will replace Hiddink as coach, extending his contract with the KNVB to the 2018 World Cup in Russia."
Hiddink, whose wide-ranging career at international level has also taken in spells in charge of South Korea, Australia, Russia and Turkey, was delighted to be handed the reigns for a second time.
"I am honoured to return as coach for the Dutch team," he said. "With Danny Blind and Ruud van Nistelrooy we also have a solid team with a lot of football knowledge and experience.
"It is wonderful that I can oversee my own succession. In this way the football vision for the Dutch team in the long term can be guaranteed."
KNVB director Bert van Oostveen added: "With Hiddink we get a coach with a wealth of international experience and successes. He has proven his ability as a trainer.
"We are also very pleased with the further development of the technical staff. Blind recently proved his worth at the KNVB. In the next two years he has a chance to grow.
"With Van Nistelrooy, we again add a former international football player to the staff. It goes without saying that we have a lot of faith in this coaching staff."
Blind has been an assistant coach in the national set-up since 2012 and was seen as a key component is the management team that presided over nine wins and a draw from 10 World Cup qualifiers.
The former Ajax and Holland defender has previous top-flight managerial experience, having served as head coach of Ajax between 2005 and 2006.
Holland have been drawn in Group B for the World Cup beginning in June, alongside reigning champions Spain, Australia and Chile.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article