PORT-OF-SPAIN – Former Dutch star Ruud Gullit has trumpeted the strength of the Holland/Belgium 2018/2022 World Cup bid, following a meeting here with powerful FIFA vice-president Jack Warner earlier this week.
The 48-year-old, who was capped 66 times by Holland, is a member of the World Cup bid team promoting the Holland/Belgium proposal.
“It was very good to meet Jack Warner. He gave us a lot of encouragement about the bid and we had the chance to explain why we are a very good bid,” said Gullit, who played for AC Milan, Chelsea, Sampdoria and PSV Eindhoven during his club career.
“We are good because we are very compact and we are very central in Europe and nobody has to take a plane to go to the games. You can stay in one hotel and go to all the games. And we know how to deal with the tourists.
“We know it’s going to be tough but hopefully we can win it. A lot of the big countries have had it, England has had it, Spain has had it, America has had it, but Holland has never had it.”
Gullit also spent time lecturing at a coaching course hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation and conducted by personnel of the Dutch Football Federation.
The course, which ended on Wednesday, took 25 youth coaches through the finer aspects of the game at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence. (CMC)
