Guus Hiddink agrees four-year deal to coach Turkey

GUUS Hiddink has agreed to coach the Turkish national team from 1 August, the Turkish Football Federation announced yesterday.

Last week, the Dutchman announced he would step down as national coach of Russia when his contract expired on 30 June.

"The Turkish Football Federation chairman and vice chairman met Mr Hiddink in Amsterdam yesterday and agreed on a deal of four years, of which two years will be optional," the Turkish Football Federation said in a statement.

Hiddink is one of the most respected coaches in world football and has been in charge of Russia since 2006, taking them to the semi-finals at Euro 2008 but failing to successfully negotiate qualifying for this year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Turkey, Euro 2008 semi-finalists, have also failed to qualify.

Hiddink took the Netherlands to the World Cup semi-finals in 1998 and repeated the feat with co-hosts South Korea in 2002, before helping an unfancied Australia to reach the knockout stage in 2006.

During his spell with Russia, Hiddink also managed Premier League side Chelsea for a few months and helped them to win the FA Cup last season.

The 63-year-old replaces Fatih Terim, who stepped down last October. Terim had been coach since 2005.

Hiddink, who won the 1988 European Cup as coach of PSV Eindhoven, also coached Istanbul side Fenerbahce during the 1990-91 season.

"Guus is not new to Turkey," said his agent, Cees van Nieuwenhuizen. "He will know where to begin. The passion and experience in football in Turkey is comparable to only a few countries."

Turkey, like Hiddink's Russia, were also beaten semi-finalists at Euro 2008 and the Dutch coach's first job will be to successfully negotiate the side's qualification for the next European Championships in Ukraine and Poland in 2012.

This will be no easy task as the Turks find themselves second seeds in a Group A which is headed by Germany – the nation who knocked them out of Euro 2008.

The other nations Hiddink will have to pit his wits against are Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.

Turkey's greatest tournament performance was a third-place finish in the 2002 World Cup.