Steven Lowy said the appointment was a "great result."

“This is a great result for Australian football,” Lowy said. “Bert Van Marwijk is world class.

"He took the Netherlands to the World Cup Final in 2010, he led the Saudi Arabian team to qualify directly for this year’s Finals and most importantly, he knows a lot about our team and how they play because he studied them closely as an opposition manager in the same group. These experiences make him a compelling choice.”

Lowy said Van Marwijk had the necessary experience to prepare Australia for a World Cup group containing France, Denmark and Peru. 

“We now go to Russia with a battle-hardened group of players and support staff who made it to the finals by the toughest road possible.

"In Bert Van Marwijk we have a manager who can achieve great things with this team.  And we will ensure they have the resources necessary to give them the highest level of preparation.”

FFA Chief Executive Officer David Gallop brokered the deal to bring Van Marwijk on board in Amsterdam. 

“Bert was our preferred candidate to take the Caltex Socceroos to the World Cup, so we are delighted to have secured his services," Gallop said. 

“We went through a thorough and disciplined process and used internal and external experts to build up a profile of the person who would be the best fit for the task in Russia.

"We had a number of outstanding coaches very interested in the role but Bert was at the top of our shortlist.”