foxsel
Retired
- 24 May 2007
- Besiktas JK
Dutch coach Guus Hiddink has accepted to take Turkey helm until August 2012 after announcing he won't extend his contract with Football Union of Russia which was due to expire on 30 June.
Turkish Football Federation (TFF) President Mahmut Özgener and TFF Vice-President Lutfi Arıboğan flew to Amsterdam to finalize the negotiations with Hiddink. 63-year-old experienced coach agreed to a two-year contract with an option for further two years.
Hiddink's coaching staff will consist of former Turkish national team captain Oğuz Çetin who previously worked as an assistant to Fatih Terim and a Dutch assistant coach whose name will be specified later. Former Turkish international goalkeeper Engin İpekoğlu will be the new goalkeeping coach of the national team.
Guus Hiddink's contract will be valid starting from 1 August 2010 and the press conference related with Dutch coach's appointment will be announced in the forthcoming days.
This will be the second spell of Hiddink in Turkey after working for Fenerbahçe SK in 1990-91 season and will link up with his former player Çetin in the national team.
Hiddink, who started his coaching career in 1982 at De Graafschap, worked at several clubs but he lived most glorious days at PSV Eindhoven where he won six Eredivisie titles and four KVNB Cups, in addition to European Champion Clubs' Cup trophy in 1988. Hiddink was previously in charge of The Netherlands, South Korea (Korea Republic), Australia and Russia national teams. In 1998 FIFA World Cup, he led the Netherlands to semi-final and four years later he repeated this success with South Korea at 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. Most recently he guided Russia to semi-finals at EURO 2008 finals, a historic achivement which happened for the first time in the country's history.
