The 51-year-old Dutchwoman will leave her position as manager and head coach of PSV Eindhoven women's team to begin her new role with the Matildas next month. 

A qualified physical education teacher, de Reus played 43 times for Holland between 1983 and 1993 before commencing a coaching career that has seen her work in elite women's club football, youth and technical development and with the Netherlands' national youth team programmes.

David Gallop, the chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA), claimed de Reus was the leading candidate to replace Sermanni, who quit in October to move to the US to replace Pia Sundhage after she had guided them to their third consecutive Olympic gold medal at London 2012.

"We put in place a very thorough search process and we had extremely high calibre coaches  apply from Australia and overseas," he said.

"I'm delighted we've been able to appoint Hesterine de Reus as the new head coach.

"Hesterine has 18 years of coaching experience, all the relevant technical qualifications and an impressive track record working with national Women's youth teams and elite women's professional clubs.

"She has the right mix of experience and skills for this important position.

"We look forward to working with Hesterine for the next stage of the Matildas campaign to defend the AFC Women's Asian Cup and qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup."

Australia failed to qualify for London 2012 but de Reus is confident that she is taking over one of the world's top teams.

The Matildas have reached the quarter-finals of the last two World Cup competitions in China in 2007 and Germany in 2011.


"I had the opportunity to watch some of the Matildas matches at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany and I very much enjoyed their style of football," said de Reus.

"We have some very ambitious plans for the team over the coming years and with the support of FFA and the AIS (Australian Institute for Sport) I am confident that we can perform on the international stage to the level that we aspire too."

Her first professional club coaching appointment was in April 1997 when de Reus became the head coach of Rijsoord in the Dutch National Women's First Division before moving to Saestum, where she she won three national championships in 1999, 2000 and 2002.

In 2010 de Reus also enjoyed a spell as the technical director of the Jordan Football Association (JFA), helping them win the inaugural Arabia Cup.

"Hesterine is clearly a coach with significant experience and knowledge who has the ability to make a positive performance impact on the Matildas and the AIS football programmes," said Matt Favier, the director of the AIS.

"We welcome her to the job and our role in supporting her efforts into the future."

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