Dick Advocaat

Date of Birth: 27.09.1947

Dick Advocaat is a Dutch football player and coach.

Place of Birth. Born on September 27, 1947, in The Hague (Netherlands).

Playing Career. As a player, he played as a defensive midfielder for Dutch clubs such as 'Den Haag' (The Hague, 1969-1973), 'Roda' (Kerkrade, 1973-1976), V.V.V. (Venlo, 1976-1979), 'Sparta' (Rotterdam, 1980-1982), 'Berchem Sport' (1982-1983), 'Utrecht' (1983-1984). He spent the 1979-1980 season in the USA with the club 'Chicago Sting'.

Bronze medalist of the Dutch championship 1970-1971.

Coaching Career. He began as an assistant to the national team coach Rinus Michels. Later he coached the first division mid-table team 'Haarlem' and the club S.V.V. (Dordrecht), which he led from the second to the first division.

A year before the European Championship in 1992, Dick Advocaat returned as assistant coach to the national team. In this tournament, the Netherlands reached the semi-finals, where they lost to the eventual winner - Denmark. Rinus Michels resigned as head coach, and Advocaat took his place. In the 1994 World Cup in the USA under his leadership, the Netherlands lost only in the quarter-finals (2:3) to the eventual tournament winner - the Brazilian national team.

After a failed start in the qualification for Euro 1996, Dick Advocaat handed over the head coach position of the national team to Guus Hiddink and went to PSV (Eindhoven), where he led the club to victory in the Dutch championship and the national cup. Advocaat's coaching career continued in Scotland, where he won the championship, the national cup, and the league cup with the club 'Glasgow Rangers' in his very first year.

In November 2002, Dick Advocaat returned to the Dutch national team and led them to the finals of Euro 2004. At that time, the Dutch reached the semi-finals, where they lost to the hosts - the Portuguese national team. After the lost match, the national coach resigned, returning to club work, where he took over the Bundesliga team 'Borussia' (Mönchengladbach).

In 2005, Dick Advocaat took the position of head coach of the national team of the United Arab Emirates. From autumn 2005 to June 2006, he coached the South Korean national team, with which he participated in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

From June 2006, he was the head coach of the Russian FC Zenit (St. Petersburg). On July 1, 2009, while he was the head coach of 'Zenit', he signed a contract with the Belgian national team, taking over the duties of head coach of the Belgians from January 1, 2010. It turned out that he had actually started working with the Belgian national team back in October 2009. On December 9, he was additionally appointed coach of the Dutch 'Alkmaar', with whom he signed a contract until the end of the 2009/2010 season.

He worked only for six months with Belgium and was appointed head coach of the Russian national team on May 17, 2010. The contract was signed for 4 years with a 2+2 scheme, and the salary of the Dutch coach was 5 million euros per year plus bonuses for the successful performances of the team.

After a series of failures of the Russian team, Advocaat signed a contract with the Dutch club PSV (Eindhoven) in May 2012, even though his contract with Russia expired in May 2013.

Since March 2015, he has been the head coach at Sunderland in England. On May 27, he resigned as head coach of Sunderland, but soon his contract was extended by one year. On October 4 2015, he ultimately stepped down as head coach.

On August 17, 2016, he became the head coach of the Turkish 'Fenerbahçe'. The contract lasted for 1 year. On August 21, the first official game of 'Fenerbahçe' under Advocaat's leadership took place, which they lost to 'Istanbul Basaksehir' 0:1.

On May 9, 2017, the 69-year-old Advocaat was appointed head coach of the Dutch national team, making him at that time the oldest coach of his country's main team. He took on his duties on June 30, 2017. The Dutch national team could not qualify for the 2018 World Cup, and after friendly matches against Scotland (1:0) and Romania (3:0), Dick Advocaat left the team. Nevertheless, the 'Oranjes' under his leadership achieved the most victories.

On October 30, 2019, he was appointed head coach of 'Feyenoord'. The contract was signed until the end of the 2019/20 season. In April 2020, the contract was extended for another season.

On May 23, 2021, Dick Advocaat ended his coaching career after the match against 'Utrecht'.

In July 2021, it became known that Dick Advocaat decided to resume his coaching career and was appointed head coach of the Iraqi national team. In November 2021, he resigned as the coach of the Iraqi national team.

He also coached the Dutch 'ADO Den Haag' from The Hague.

Awards and Achievements in Coaching Career:

- Winner of the Dutch Cup 1995-1996, - Dutch Champion 1996-1997, - Winner of the Johan Cruyff Shield 1996-1997, - Scottish Champion 1998-1999 and 1999-2000, - Winner of the Scottish Cup 1998-1999 and 1999-2000, - Winner of the Scottish League Cup 1998-1999, - Participant in the European Championships 1992 and 2004, - Participant in the World Cups 1994 and 2006, - Coach of the Year in Scotland (1999-2000), - Russian Champion 2007, - Winner of the Russian Super Cup 2008, - Winner of the UEFA Cup 2007-2008, - Winner of the UEFA Super Cup 2008.

27.09.2023