Top facts about Dick Advocaat, The Little General

Dick Nicolaas Advocaat is a former Dutch football player and coach who was born on September 27, 1947.

Dick Advocaat’s age

is 74. Here, you can find the most important facts about Dick Advocaat, the tough and strict boss.

The first fact about Dick Advocaat is that he had a successful career as a football player and coach, including three spells with the Dutch national team.

He has coached a variety of clubs both in the Netherlands and overseas (notably Zenit Saint Petersburg of Russia, with whom he won the 2008 UEFA Cup Final), as well as national teams from South Korea, Belgium, and Russia. "The Little General" is his nickname, a homage to his instructor Rinus Michels.

Dick Advocaat has a reputation as a hard man from his previous jobs. He masterminded Rangers' historic treble-winning season in 1999

In 2021, Iraq Football Association announced the appointment of the Dutchman as the head coach of the

.

Top facts about Dick Advocaat:

Dick Advocaat's nickname is 'The Little General'. He is a tough guy, he's always had strict discipline. His discipline has been one of the key things in his coaching style over the years.

Dick Advocaat early life

The Hague is the birthplace of Advocaat. During his playing days, he was a defensive midfielder. Regarding

Dick Advocaat’s childhood

, it should be mentioned that he started his professional career as an 18-year-old with ADO Den Haag, where he made his professional debut on May 21, 1967, in a 3–0 victory against GVAV.

That season, he only played for Den Haag once more, and the San Francisco Golden Gate Gales franchise imported the Den Haag club, which included Advocaat, to play in the United Soccer Association for six weeks as part of an attempt to increase the popularity of the sport in the United States.

Advocaat's sole honor as a player came the following season, when he won the KNVB Cup in 1968. Unfortunately, there is no information available regarding

Dick Advocaat’s parents

.

Dick Advocaat professional career

Advocaat boasts great experience, having coached several European national teams, including his native Netherlands, Belgium, Russia and Serbia.

He also coached several clubs in Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, England and Turkey and won titles with

, Rangers and Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Dick Advocaat club career

An important

fact about Dick Advocaat

is that he became a regular in the ADO Den Haag during the 1969–70 season, making 29 appearances and scored his first goal for the club. The next season, he made 33 appearances.

The club amalgamated with Holland Sport in 1971–72 to become FC Den Haag. Advocaat made a total of 66 appearances and scored six goals in his last season with the club. He appeared in 147 games for the club, scoring seven goals.

Roda JC

From 1973 to 1976, Advocaat played for Roda JC before moving to VVV-Venlo for the 1976–77 season. Advocaat appeared in 121 games for Roda JC, scoring two goals.

VVV-Venlo

Advocaat scored two goals in 20 appearances for VVV-Venlo in his debut season. In the 1977–78 season, he made 33 appearances and scored four goals, and he made another 21 appearances in his last season with the club. He appeared in 74 games and scored six goals.

Chicago Sting

Advocaat relocated to the United States in 1978 to play for the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League (NASL).

He appeared in 24 games that season, scoring two goals. In 1979, he scored three more goals in 28 games, and he scored one more goal in 29 appearances in 1980.

During the NASL season break between 1979 and 1980, Advocaat returned to his previous team, FC Den Haag, and played 11 games for them, scoring one goal.

Sparta Rotterdam

Following the 1980 NASL season, Advocaat transferred to Sparta Rotterdam for the 1980–81 season. He played for the club for 18 months, scoring six goals and making 61 appearances.

K. Berchem Sport

Following that, Advocaat returned to Belgium to play for K. Berchem Sport in the second tier. However, he only lasted 10 games there before returning to the Eredivisie to join Utrecht, where he played for another 39 games before retiring.

Dick Advocaat coaching career

In 1981, Advocaat's elder brother Jaap was given a position leading amateur Saturday football side Door Samenwerking Verkregen Pijnacker, and he got active in teaching in addition to playing football (DSVP). Although Jaap did not accept the position, he did propose Dick for it.

During the last four years of his playing career with Sparta Rotterdam and Utrecht, Advocaat managed this team.

An important fact about Dick Advocaat is that he was surprisingly chosen as an assistant to Rinus Michels, the head coach of the

, in 1984.

Michels' nickname was "The General," and Advocaat became his protege. Advocaat earned the moniker "The Little General" as a result of this.

Advocaat took over as manager of his first professional team, HFC Haarlem, in 1987, and stayed there for two years. In the 1987–88 season, Haarlem came in ninth place and tenth position in the 1988–89 season. In both seasons, Haarlem was eliminated in the second round of the KNVB Cup.

SVV

A notable fact about Dick Advocaat is that he later became manager of Schiedamse Voetbal Vereniging (SVV). At SVV, Advocaat, along with technical director Wim Jansen, led the team to Eerste Divisie champions and promotion to the 1990–91 Eredivisie, winning by 15 points.

In 1991, SVV amalgamated with Dordrecht '90, a neighboring club that had failed to qualify for the 1991 play-offs. SVV had finished 16th the previous season, but after winning their relegation play-off, they were able to stay in the Eredivisie.

PSV Eindhoven and the Dutch national team

In 1990, Advocaat rejoined Michels as an assistant coach for the Dutch national side, who was attempting to qualify for UEFA Euro 1992 for the fourth time.

Following Euro 1992, it became clear that Michels' position would be his last, and Advocaat took over as national coach.

Advocaat's first two games in command were a friendly against Italy and a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification against Norway, both of which he lost.

Advocaat and Ruud Gullit had a falling out during the qualifying campaign; Gullit was unhappy with Advocaat's tactics in the World Cup qualifier against England and was eventually replaced. Gullit then retired from international football, although a change of government in the summer was generally anticipated to bring him back.

Following a key victory against qualifying opponents England, Advocaat qualified for the World Cup. Regardless of the outcome, Advocaat was set to be replaced by

for the 1994 World Cup.

Cruyff and the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) were unable to reach an agreement at the last minute, and Advocaat kept his job, forcing Gullit to quit despite having originally joined the Dutch team for the 1994 World Cup. The Dutch national team had a five-win and two-draw record in 1993.

PSV won the Eredivisie championship in 1996–97 and qualified for the UEFA Champions League the following year after Advocaat recruited Jaap Stam in the summer. Advocaat departed the club in June 1998. In 1996 and 1997, PSV also won the Johan Cruyff Shield, the Dutch Super Cup.

Rangers

An important

fact about Dick Advocaat

is that he accepted Rangers chairman David Murray's request to become the team's new manager in the Scottish Premier League (SPL) in 1998. Walter Smith was still on the job, although he had already announced his resignation.

When Advocaat took over as manager of Rangers, he became the club's first foreign manager and just the ninth manager in its history. The preceding season was the club's seventh under Walter Smith, and it was the first time in 12 years that it had ended without a trophy.

Rangers won the domestic triple in Advocaat's first season, 1998–99, finishing six points ahead of second-placed Celtic in the league, beating Celtic 1–0 in the Scottish Cup final, and defeating St. Johnstone 2–1 in the League Cup final.

Rangers, on the other hand, were eliminated from the group stage after being paired with Bayern Munich, PSV, and Valencia. In the UEFA Cup, the club was defeated by

in a penalty shootout.

A notable fact about Dick Advocaat is that he quit as manager of Rangers on December 12, 2001, with Celtic leading the Scottish Premier League by 12 points.

Mönchengladbach international management

Following Louis van Gaal's failure to qualify the Netherlands for the 2002 World Cup in January 2002, Advocaat returned to the national team setup and presided over the Netherlands' qualifying for Euro 2004 through the playoffs. His debut match ended in a 1–1 tie with England.

Despite leading the Netherlands to the Euro 2004 semi-finals, Advocaat was chastised by the Dutch media. After a poor performance, the Netherlands were defeated 2–1 by Portugal in the Euro 2004 semi-finals.

A notable fact about Dick Advocaat is that he made a tactical move in that match that surprised even his own players, bringing in the aged Paul Bosvelt in midfield to replace fan favorite Arjen Robben, who had been instrumental throughout the game with two assists.

The Czechs took advantage of the situation and scored the game-winning goal. With rising criticism and even death threats, Advocaat resigned as head coach on July 6, 2004, shortly after the tournament.

Advocaat then returned to club management for a short time. On November 2, 2004, he was recruited by German club

.

On November 6, 2004, he played his first match, a 1–1 draw against Mainz 05. After less than six months at the head, he resigned on April 18, 2005. On April 16, 2005, he played his last match, a 1–1 tie against Mainz 05. He completed with a four-win, six-draw, and eight-loss record.

An important

fact about Dick Advocaat

is that he signed a one-year deal to coach the United Arab Emirates national team in July 2005, but he ended it in September to become manager of the South Korean national team from October 1 till the conclusion of the 2006 World Cup.

On October 12, 2005, Advocaat's debut match in charge of South Korea was a friendly against Iran, which South Korea won 2–0.

In November of that year, two further friendlies were played, with a draw against Sweden and a win against Serbia.

South Korea began their World Cup campaign with a 2–1 win against Togo. They got a late equalizer to tie 1–1 with France in their second group encounter, putting them in a position to qualify from Group G.

South Korea, on the other hand, failed to move to the last 16 after losing 2–0 to Switzerland, while France advanced to the next round after defeating Togo 2–0. Advocaat resigned after Korea's elimination from the World Cup.

Zenit

The Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg was purchased by Gazprom in December 2005. Manager Vlastimil Petrela was fired in the summer after a disappointing start to the season. Advocaat was appointed in his place on June 26, 2006, and signed an 18-month contract with the possibility of a one-year extension.

Zenit finished fourth in the 2006 season, earning a spot in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round for the 2007–08 season.

The Russian Premier League transfer record was broken twice in December 2006, first with the acquisition of Pavel Pogrebnyak and then again with the purchase of Alejandro Domnguez by Zenit.

Zenit played Russian Cup champions Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Super Cup on March 9, 2008, prior to the commencement of the 2008 domestic season; Zenit won the match 2–0.

Zenit competed for the European Super Cup on August 29, 2008, against Manchester United, the Champions League champions. The match ended in a 2–1 victory for Zenit, with new signing Danny scoring the game-winning goal.

In Europe, Zenit did not move from their Champions League group, but they finished third, advancing to the UEFA Cup last 32. Zenit finished sixth in Russia that season, qualifying for the Europa League play-offs the next season.

Advocaat signed a one-year deal with the club on November 7, 2008, committing him to the club until the end of 2009. Advocaat was selected Russia's Trainer of the Year in December.

In April 2009, Advocaat featured seven foreign players in a team selection against Lokomotiv Moscow in the domestic season (one more than the league regulations allow). Advocaat accepted responsibility for the error, and the club was fined but not docked points.

When his contract with Zenit ended on January 1, 2010, Advocaat accepted to become the manager of the

in May 2009.

However, following a string of disappointing results, he was fired by the club on August 10, 2009, with Zenit in seventh place in the league. On August 9, 2009, he lost 2–0 against Tom Tomsk in his last match. At the time of the dismissal, Zenit was in sixth position.

Belgium and AZ

An important fact about Dick Advocaat is that he had already agreed to a two-year, US$1,688,400 contract as manager of Belgium before being fired from Zenit.

Advocaat was named manager of both the Belgian national team and AZ of the Netherlands on December 6, 2009.

Advocaat resigned as manager of the Belgian national team on April 15, 2010, after violating his contract with the Royal Belgian Football Association (KBVB) amid reports that he was set to become the Russian national team's coach.

Russia

Advocaat was chosen the new manager of the Russian national team on May 17, 2010. He took over for fellow Dutchman Guus Hiddink on July 1st. Advocaat agreed to a four-year deal.

Advocaat's team started their Euro 2012 qualification campaign with a surprise loss against Slovakia at home. Russia, on the other hand, won their group and qualified for the Euro 2012 finals automatically.

Russia had a bright start at Euro 2012 (Group A) by defeating the Czech Republic 4–1 and drawing 1–1 with hosts Poland.

The squad, however, was unable to go beyond the group stage after losing 1–0 to Greece in the last match. Before the competition, it was already agreed that Advocaat would depart to take over at PSV.

PSV

A notable fact about Dick Advocaat is that he took over for Fred Rutten, who had been fired in March 2012. Advocaat was returning to the club where he originally achieved success. Advocaat was chosen the new manager of the Serbian national team in July 2014.

Serbia had just one point in three matches at the start of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign: Serbia drew 1–1 with Armenia, then lost 3–1 to Denmark after forfeiting their match against Albania due to stadium problems during the match. Following a 3–1 home loss to Denmark on November 14, 2014, Advocaat opted to end his contract.

Sunderland

Advocaat was named manager of English Premier League team Sunderland on 17 March 2015 until the end of the season, after the resignation of manager Gus Poyet.

Advocaat was first hired on a temporary basis. Four days later, his debut match in command ended in a 1–0 defeat to

. On 5 April 2015, he won his debut match as manager, a 1–0 triumph against Newcastle United in the Tyne–Wear derby.

Advocaat oversaw a turnaround in Sunderland's fortunes after a 4–1 home loss to Crystal Palace, with a 1–1 draw at Stoke City and back-to-back victories over Southampton and Everton.

After a 0–0 draw against Arsenal on May 20, 2015, Advocaat led Sunderland to Premier League safety with one match left, and a clearly affected Advocaat was seen in tears after the final whistle. Sunderland finished 16th, two places and three points above the relegation zone.

A notable

fact about Dick Advocaat

is that he announced the end of his management career a week later, however on 4 June 2015, he changed his mind and signed a one-year deal with Sunderland.

The club made two key additions during the summer transfer window: winger Jeremain Lens, who previously played under Advocaat at PSV, and striker Fabio Borini, who was on loan at Sunderland during the 2013–14 season.

Sunderland was in 19th position and in danger of relegation at the time of Advocaat's departure. He completed with a four-win, six-draw, and nine-loss record.

Fenerbahçe

His debut match in charge was a 3–0 win against Grasshopper in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League at Fenerbahçe's home stadium. Advocaat guided Fenerbahçe to a 2–1 victory against Manchester United in the Europa League's fourth group stage match on November 3, and the team finished first, ahead of United, with 13 points.

Netherlands

Advocaat was named the new manager of the Netherlands on May 9, 2017, marking his third stint in command of the national squad.

On June 9, he took command of his first match, a World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg at home, which the Netherlands won 5–0. As his assistant, he was joined by Ruud Gullit, with whom Advocaat had previously battled during his first stint in command of the Oranje.

Following the November friendly against Scotland and

, Advocaat stood down after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup.

With victory in both matches, he surpassed Bob Glendenning as the most successful Dutch manager in terms of wins, with a total of 37 triumphs, a record he had held for 77 years.

Sparta Rotterdam

confirmed on December 25, 2017, that Advocaat will be the club's next manager for the rest of the 2017–18 season.

Sparta was relegated to the Eerste Divisie on May 20, 2018 after a 1–3 defeat in the Promotion/relegation play-offs against FC Emmen.

FC Utrecht

After their former manager was fired after four games, FC Utrecht announced on September 12 that they had reached a verbal deal with Advocaat to complete the 2018-2019 season.

Feyenoord

Feyenoord confirmed on 30 October 2019 that Dick Advocaat had been named as the club's coach for the rest of the 2019–20 Eredivisie season, after the resignation of their former manager Jaap Stam.

Feyenoord made their debut under Dick Advocaat on November 3rd, defeating VVV-Venlo 3-0 in an away match. Feyenoord stated on April 21, 2020, that the club and Advocaat have struck an agreement for Advocaat to remain as coach for the 2020–21 season.

At 72 years and 351 days old, Advocaat will become the oldest coach in the history of the Dutch Eredivisie on September 12, 2020.

Iraq

He was introduced as the new head coach of the Iraqi national football team on August 1, 2021, to lead them in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.

However, he failed to win any of his six games, drawing four and losing two. On November 23, 2021, he resigned.

Dick Advocaat social media

Regarding

Dick Advocaat social media

, it should be mentioned that he does not have any pages on any social media platforms.

Dick Advocaat body measurements

Speaking about

Dick Advocaat body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the coach is 174cm and 82kg.

Dick Advocaat net worth and salary

Dick Advocaat’s net worth

, as the former Dutch football player and current Dutch manager, is expected to have around $10 million in 2022. He makes roughly €7 million each year from his professional career.

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