In the past few years, the name of Dick Advocaat has been quite often heard not only on TV screens or on radios, but also in the lively conversations of football fans. But for a wide circle of ordinary people, his personality still remains a mystery.
Dick Nicholas Advocaat was born in 1947 in the Netherlands. At various times he played as a defensive midfielder for such clubs as Den Haag, Roda, VVV-Venlo, Sparta, Berchem Sport, FC Utrecht and Chicago Sting. The player's career was replaced by coaching, which began in 1984. The first position in this area was the position of the assistant coach of the Dutch national team Rinus Michels. It was thanks to this man, whom the fans and players called only "the general", that the Advocate was nicknamed "the little general".
Then Dick worked as an assistant, and only in 1992 took over as head coach of the Dutch national team. In the same year, the team reached the Euro semifinals. In 1994, the Netherlands came in second.
In 1996, the lawyer leaves for PVS, which is based in Eindhoven. Under his leadership, the team takes first place in the national championship. Dick stayed with her until ninety-eight, and then left for Scotland.
Here history repeated itself: Dick led the Glasgow Rangers to gold in the Scottish Championship, in the National Cup and even in the League Cup. The two thousandth year brought him the title of the best coach in this country.
The year 2002 was marked by the return to the Dutch national team and its entry into the final of Euro 2004. Then the lawyer went to conquer football tournaments with the German Borussia.
In 2005, Dick Nicholas heads the national team of the United Arab Emirates, in 2006 coaches the South Korea national team, in the middle of the same year he moves to the cultural capital of Russia to Zenit. Already next year, the blue and white under his command become the first in the Russian championship. Gradually, the club's management became more and more dissatisfied with the coaching of Advocate, and in 2009 he was dismissed.
This fact did not prevent him from leading the Russian national team in 2010. The very first game under his leadership was victorious. The selection for Euro 2012 was held with varying success, but the overall impression of the national team's performance was getting better and better. However, Advocate said that after the tournament he would leave his post and did not want to renew his contract with the Russian Football Union. It became known that he agreed to the offer to return to the PVS that he once headed from Eindhoven.