The head of the Turkish Football Federation has officially introduced Dutch trainer Guus Hiddink as the new head coach of the national football team.
The Dutch trainer will begin coaching the Turkish national team in August. He quit Russia after failing to take the side to this summer's World Cup finals.
"We fully trust him. Today a new stage opens in Turkish football," Mahmut Ozgener said at a joint news conference with Hiddink, where he also signed an official contract.
The details of the contract have not been revealed, however Turkey's Sabah and Fotomac papers reported earlier that Hiddink, who trained Turkish club Fenerbahce in 1990-91, would be paid annually around $4 million.
"I am very glad to be back in Turkey after 20 years. I will begin working with the footballers in the nearest future and hope to achieve good results," the 63-year-old Dutch trainer said.
Hiddink took over the Russian team in the summer of 2006 and worked wonders to transform the fortunes of a side that had become something of a national joke, taking it to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and making a genuine world star of diminutive forward Andrei Arshavin. He was hailed as the savior of the Russian game and there were calls for him to be granted honorary citizenship.
However, he was criticized throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign for spending too little time in Russia and relying too heavily on the players who had served him so well at Euro 2008.
ANKARA, March 15 (RIA Novosti)
