Off the wire
• Spotlight: Venezuela's state of emergency extended by another 60 days, possibly to last longer  • Urgent: Iraqi forces foil multiple suicide attacks at gas plant near Baghdad  • Xinhua Insight: Chilean wine reaches China's doorsteps  • Uganda's Cheptegei wins silver in IAAF Diamond League in China  • Nepal's forest cover area increases by over 5 pct 44.74 percent  • Road accident kills 15 in India  • Gun battle kills 13 militants, wounds 15 in N. Afghanistan  • Spotlight: Rival camps intensify campaigning ahead of Brexit referendum  • Chinese mass murder suspect caught after 25 years  • Cambodian Prince Ranariddh's party backs China's rejection of South China Sea arbitration  
You are here: 　 Home

Advocaat to assist Blind as Dutch NT coach

Xinhua, May 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Dick Advocaat replaces Ruud van Nistelrooy as assistant in the staff of the Dutch national team, the Dutch football association KNVB announced on Saturday night.

In February Van Nistelrooy declared he would quit his current function to continue as youth coach at PSV. Netherlands head coach Danny Blind chose the 68-year-old Advocaat as his replacement.

"I asked Advocaat to be my assistant a while ago and I am glad he said yes," said Blind. "We have a difficult World Cup qualification campaign ahead and it is good we can use his know-how. I am looking forward to the cooperation."

From 1984 to 1987 and from 1990 to 1992 Advocaat was already assistant at the national team and from 1992 until 1995 and from 2002 until 2004 he was the head coach. With Marco van Basten, who led the Dutch team between 2006 and 2008, the Dutch national team now has two former head coaches as assistants.

Advocaat will join the Dutch national team on a training camp to Portugal, starting next Sunday. The Netherlands, which failed to qualify for Euro 2016, will play friendlies against Ireland on May 27 in Dublin, Poland on June 1 in Gdansk and Austria on June 4 in Vienna. Endit