In profile: New Fenerbahçe coach Dick Advocaat
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
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A protege of the great Rinus Michels, Fenerbahçe's new boss is known as the Little General, has led six national teams and won titles in Russia, Scotland and his native Netherlands.
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Date of birth: 27 September 1947
Nationality: Dutch
Playing career: Den Haag (twice), Roda, VVV Venlo, Chicago Sting, Sparta Rotterdam, Berchem Sport, Utrecht
Coaching career: DSVP, Haarlem, Dordrecht, Netherlands (twice), PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Borussia Mönchengladbach, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Zenit St Petersburg, AZ Alkmaar (twice), Belgium, Russia, Serbia, Sunderland, Netherlands (assistant), Fenerbahçe
• A combative midfielder, Advocaat's playing career lasted 18 years and included three seasons in the North American Soccer League with Chicago Sting.
• Twice served as assistant coach to Rinus Michels with the Dutch national team, where he earned the nickname Little General. Then took charge himself and led the Oranje to the 1994 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in the United States.
• Won the Dutch Cup and Eredivisie with PSV (1995-98) before moving to Scotland and picking up domestic treble in the first of four seasons with Rangers. He then opted for a second spell with the Netherlands and led team to UEFA EURO 2004 semi-finals. Two years later he was in charge of South Korea at the World Cup finals.
• Returned to club football with Zenit, winning the Russian title in 2007 and the UEFA Cup – where he defeated former club Rangers – and UEFA Super Cup a year later. Left in August 2009, becoming Belgium coach two months later before agreeing to coach AZ Alkmaar for the rest of the season.
• Took charge of Russia in May 2010, clinching a place at UEFA EURO 2012 with a 6-0 defeat of Andorra on the last day of qualifying. In April 2012 he announced his decision to depart after that summer's finals and subsequently agreed a return to PSV. Returned to Alkmaar in October 2013 on a short-term basis.
• After an ill-fated four-month spell as Serbia coach in 2014, he successfully negotiated the end of Sunderland's relegation battle the following year. He extended his association, but a poor start to 2015/16 brought his resignation and he worked as an assistant to the senior Dutch team before being unveiled at Fenerbahçe on 17 August.
