Advocaat agrees to take Serbia job
By Matthew Scott
Jul 22, 2014 15:51:00
The Dutchman has revealed that he is set to sign a four-year contract following Sinisa Mihajlovic’s resignation, rejecting South Africa's approach
Dick Advocaat has revealed he is set to take charge of the Serbia national team.
The experienced Dutchman is currently out of work, having come out of retirement in October last year to coach AZ for a second time.
He helped the Alkmaar club reach the Europa League play-offs with an eighth-place finish in the Eredivisie last term, but defeat to Groningen in the final left them without continental competition for 2014-15 and Advocaat subsequently stepped down.
Walter Zenga was also thought to be a candidate to replace Sinisa Mihajlovic, who resigned from the Serbia job after failure to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil.
However, it now appears Advocaat is set to lead the team in their efforts to reach Euro 2016 in France, and the former Russia boss is confident he can bring success.
"I did not want to work as a club coach any more," he told Voetbal International. "There was a vague contact with South Africa, but the job is too far away and the Serbian federation took the initiative to talk to me.
"They have a great team and we can really focus on qualifying for the European Championship in 2016. My contract will run until the end of the tournament, but the practice is usually to quit once you are unable to qualify."
The last time Serbia reached the Euros was in 2000 when they were still classified as Yugoslavia, under which guise they twice finished as runners up in the 1960s.
