Johan Neeskens has been named by Football Federation Australia as the new assistant manager to support Guus Hiddink's preparation plans for the World Cup Finals in Germany.

Neskens has worked as Hiddink's assistant in the 1998 World Cup in France, where Holland reached the semi-finals. He has played for Ajax, Barcelona and the Dutch team that narrowly missed becoming World Champion to Germany in the 1974 final.

He joins in as head coach and his primary job will be to support Graham Arnold with Australia's first ever Asian Cup Qualifier in February. Guus Hiddink will be away due to his commitments with PSV Eindhoven.

"I'm looking forward to realising the best possible results with the team of Australia, along with Guus Hiddink, Graham Arnold and all the staff members during the World Cup in Germany," Neeskens said.

Neskens was also Frank Rijkaard's assistant in the Euro 2000 tournament. As a player he has won many titles, including three times European Cup Winner with Ajax, European Cup Winner with Barcelona and league titles.

"Johan has had a distinguished career as a player and coach and has proven to have had a very successful partnership when working with Guus Hiddink."

"We said we would leave no stone unturned to get to Germany and now we are applying the same philosophy towards our tournament preparations," FFA chief executive John O'Neill told at a press conference.

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