Former Celtic star Pierre van Hooijdonk has revealed he wanted to stay at the SPL club, but had to leave to save his international career. The forward played for Holland in the 1998 World Cup in France, but was playing for Nottingham Forest at the time.
Hiddink told the player he couldn’t select him if he wasn’t playing regularly for his club. Van Hooijdonk revealed if he wasn’t part of the national team he would have stayed at Celtic longer, but subsequently he had a desire to play in the 1998 World Cup.
“I asked Guus Hiddink: “What should I do? He said he couldn’t select me if I wasn’t playing. If he I hadn’t been in the national team, I would probably have stayed at Celtic longer, but my aim was to play in the World Cup,” said the Dutchman.
Van Hooijdonk spent two seasons with Celtic, and during his spell the forward was prolific. The 46-year-old scored 44 goals in 69 league games before his move to Nottingham Forest in 1997.
