The Dutchman took up the national team job in late 2007 and led the Socceroos to their second straight FIFA World Cup and left the position after South Africa 2010.
Many people were glad to see him go because they saw in him the quintessential football pragmatist who only cared about one thing: results.
'Pimbecile' screamed a Sydney newspaper after a 4-0 drubbing against Germany in Durban.
The Socceroos were eliminated at the group stage but exited the tournament with an impressive 2-1 victory over Serbia.
Yet it was his hardly flattering view on the A-League's quality early in his tenure that unfortunately might have sealed his legacy.
In a press conference in Sydney to announce his first squad he was asked why Michael Beauchamp and Josh Kennedy were selected when they were getting very little game time with their respective second division clubs Nurnberg and Karlsruhe.
Verbeek replied bluntly "If you train for three weeks with Nurnberg or Karlsruhe, I have to be honest, I still think that's better than playing in the A-League."
That comment, which of course was spot-on, did not go down well with all those who thought the world of Australian football after the relative success of the Socceroos in the 2006 World Cup and the formation of the professional A-League.
How dare he speak so unkindly of our top competition, asked many pundits who had lost all sense of proportion and perspective in a classic case of delusions of grandeur.
Yet the very people who may have seen Verbeek as an arrogant pragmatist who had the temerity to speak his mind and tell it the way it is conveniently overlooked the fact that he was a thorough professional, who loved his job with a passion and was pretty good at it too.
He was without doubt one of the most pleasant coaches and genuine persons I have had the pleasure to meet and deal with.
He was a true gentleman in a murky football world full of suspicion, selfishness and subterfuge.
He was a deep thinker who left nothing to chance when it came to preparing for a football match.
"That's my job. I'm thinking all the time when I'm in camp of how's the best way to win a match," he once told me.
"But sometimes in away games it is just not worth taking the risk with attack."
Verbeek's meticulous approach came across very clearly on the occasion of a World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent in 2009.
On the eve of the match, he spoke about his plan to play it cautiously in the first 20 minutes or so in the hope of making the impatient Uzbek fans get on their team's back and force them to play into Australia's hands by taking a few risks.
He later came up to me and asked me to leave out the bit about the home fans in my preview because his quotes could be picked up by the Uzbek media and spark an unnecessary hostile reaction at the ground.
"I do not want to give the Uzbeks the chance to say 'Okay, if that's what he wants," he explained. Australia would win 1-0.
On another occasion I asked him if he would be wiling to participate in a feature story examining the strengths and weaknesses of Australia's four group opponents. After thinking about it for a few days he said he was unwilling to take part: "Why should I let our rivals know how much I know about them?"
That was Pim Verbeek to a tee. A top coach and a great man who deserved better recognition in Australia.
