Victor Hermans has achieved much in a four-decade career and the Dutch coach intends to add another notch to his belt, when he leads host nation Thailand at next month's Futsal World Cup.
Coach Victor Hermans. APICHIT JINAKUL
As a player, Hermans won five club championships in the Netherlands and earned 50 international caps. He capped his 23-year playing career with a Golden Ball award at the inaugural Futsal World Cup in his home country in 1989, as the host side finished runners-up.
Since then, the Dutch icon has embarked on a coaching career, with Hong Kong, and then Malaysia, at the 1992 and 1996 World Cup finals respectively, before guiding Iran to the AFC Futsal Championship title in 2001.
Hermans took up Thailand's reins in March. With a strong track record, he appears confident of leading the Thais to history at next month's tournament.
"When I first met my players and staff, I asked them what they wanted to achieve," the 59-year-old told Fifa's official website.
"The answers were clear: to win the AFF [Asean Football Federation] tournament and AFC Futsal Championship, and to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup."
Indeed, the last-eight goal at Thailand 2012 appears a tall order for the hosts, who have never progressed beyond the group stages during their past three futsal world finals. In fact, no Asian sides _ apart from Iran _ have achieved that feat.
Hermans, though, is confident his charges can deliver and this unswerving belief is by no means unfounded, considering that the Thais accomplished their initial mission by winning the 10-team AFF competition in April, and went all the way through to the AFC Futsal Championship final, only to lose to Japan.
Most notably, the War Elephants stunned Iran 5-4 in the semi-finals to mark their first-ever win against the Asian kings in the continental finals, a result which provides Hermans with much food for thought.
"The victory boosted our morale," he told www.fifa.com. "Our players made consistent progress game by game. After beating Lebanon [in the quarter-finals] we had the feeling that we can win against any team, including Japan in the final, although we lost. I hope such experiences can bolster the players' confidence going into the World Cup."
Catching the most attention has been striking prodigy Suphawut Thueanklang, who finished as the tournament's joint top scorer with seven goals, including a treble against Iran.
"He is a brilliant player," Hermans said about the 23-year-old.
"I am surprised that he is not playing in Europe. It is great that the World Cup offers him and our other players a chance to showcase their talents in front of the watching world."
Gradually and steadily, Hermans has instilled a level of confidence in the team. Even an 8-0 thumping by world champions Spain in a warm-up match in August did nothing to dent the team's resolute mentality.
"Playing against the world stars, they looked up to the opponents and so they were overwhelmed," Hermans said. "But when they recovered mentally they improved much with a 6-4 loss in the second game. If you think strong, you can play better."
At the Nov 1-18 World Cup in Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, the hosts open against Costa Rica before taking on European giants Ukraine and South American powerhouses Paraguay.
"We expect no easy games in the World Cup," Hermans said.
"All our rivals are strong. Our strategy is to focus on a game at a time. When Thailand have the confidence, they can be a surprise in the World Cup. Such a belief is important also for the futsal future in this country as well as in Asia."