Pim Verbeek, the Dutch football manager who led Australia to the World Cup in 2010, has died at the age of 63, four years after being diagnosed with cancer.

Tributes immediately flowed for Verbeek across the Netherlands and the rest of the world. He is best remembered in Australia for being the first manager to lead the Socceroos through a World Cup qualifying campaign in the Asian Football Confederation.

After a series of appointments through the Dutch Eredivisie and J-League, he managed the South Korean team to third place in the 2007 Asian Cup, after previously serving as an assistant on that national team under Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, respectively.

After resigning, he took over the Socceroos at the end of 2007, and led them masterfully through that qualifying run, becoming just the second team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.