Phillip Cocu
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Phillip John William Cocu (born October 29 1970 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch football midfielder currently playing for PSV Eindhoven.
Career
Early career / AZ
He first started out playing football at amateur level with clubs like AFC '34 and DCS Zevenaar. He signed his first professional contract with AZ Alkmaar in the 1988/1989 season when he was only 17 years old. After an encouraging start at the club, he signed on at Vitesse Arnhem in 1990.Vitesse
His career at Vitesse was blighted by him breaking his right leg in his first game against Sparta Rotterdam. After fully recovering in 1992, his talents were finally recognised, as he assisted his club into gaining promotion into the UEFA Cup competition as well as a top five finish in the Eredivisie. Ajax Amsterdam tried to sign him twice when he was at Vitesse but it was Dick Advocaat who signed him for PSV Eindhoven in 1995. Dick Advocaat himself was appointed the coach of Netherlands in the previous year for the World Cup 1994 where the Dutch team lost at the quarter-final stage against eventual winners Brazil.PSV
During his tenure at PSV, he won one Eredivisie league title but did not enjoy the same success in European cup competitions. His international team colleagues such as Jaap Stam, Arthur Numan, Boudewijn Zenden, and Wim Jonk all formed the core of the PSV squad although he was also teammate of Ronaldo and Luc Nilis.FC Barcelona
Having played some of his finest football at PSV, Cocu moved to Primera Liga giants FC Barcelona after the World Cup in 1998. Louis van Gaal who coached Barcelona at that time also signed many Dutch World Cup players such as Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Patrick Kluivert, Boudewijn Zenden, Ruud Hesp, Michael Reiziger, Winston Bogarde as well as Marc Overmars in 2000 and the Spanish team was soon nicknamed 'Oranje Barcelona' or 'Ajax Barcelona' because of the heavy influence of former Ajax players as well as a former Ajax coach. Barcelona won the Primera Liga in seasons' 1997-1998 and 1998-1999.In the following seasons, while most of the Dutch contingent at Barcelona, like the de Boer brothers and Boudewijn Zenden, were offloaded, Cocu managed to stay on for six seasons and defended his defensive midfield position. By the start of the 2003-2004 season, Kluivert, Reiziger, Overmars, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Cocu were the remaining Dutch players plus Edgar Davids who joined halway during the season on loan from Juventus. The man in charge now was not Louis van Gaal anymore, but another Dutchman - Frank Rijkaard.
In February 2005, Cocu was honoured by FC Barcelona and the Camp Nou faithful with a hearty ovation before the start of a match and president Joan Laporta presented the Dutch player with a plaque to commemorate his career, highlighting his dedication and loyalty to the club.
Return to PSV
Although he was proposed a new contract, Cocu left FC Barcelona before the start of Euro 2004 for his old club, PSV to finish his career.International career
It was at PSV that Cocu finally got called-up to the national squad and he was handed his debut in a friendly on 24 April 1996 against Germany and was then even selected in the final squad for Euro 96.By 1998, Cocu was a permanent fixture in the national side and was selected by Guus Hiddink for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France where he scored two goals in the group stage. It proved to be another disappointing campaign for the Dutch team as they bowed out against Brazil in the semi-final, albeit by penalties when both of the fiercely competitive sides squared off in a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes of exciting football. For Cocu, his disappointment was further heightened as he missed his penalty kick and Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel saved his shot as well as Ronald de Boer's spotkick. The Brazilians converted all of their available chances and went on to the final with France. Cocu was used in a variety of different positions in that tournament and looked right at home in all of them. An example would be in the semi-final against Brazil where he filled in at left-back as incumbent Arthur Numan was suspended and substitute Winston Bogarde suffered a serious knee injury during a training session prior to the match. Cocu was without doubt one of the best and most memorable Dutch players of the World Cup.
Cocu represented his country in Euro 2000 on home ground and also played in Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Cocu was captain of the Dutch side during Euro 2004, but after the tournament, new coach Marco van Basten handed the captain's armband over to Edgar Davids, and later to Edwin van der Sar. Cocu remained as a reserve captain, however.
With Cocu in a pivotal role in midfield, in 2004-2005 the Netherlands won 10 out of their 12 qualifying games enroute to qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
On April 10, 2006, Cocu announced that he will retire from the national team after the 2006 World Cup.
Honours
- Champion of Netherlands: 1997, 2005, 2006
- Champions of Spain: 1999
- Dutch Cup: 1996, 2005
- Dutch Super Cup: 1996, 1997
- European Super Cup: 1998
| PSV - Current Squad |
|---|
| 1 Gomes | 2 Ooijer | 3 Reiziger | 4 Alex | 5 Ball | 6 Simons | 7 Väyrynen | 8 Cocu | 9 Vennegoor of Hesselink | 10 Koné | 11 Beasley | 14 Ferreyra | 15 Čulina | 16 Lucius | 17 Farfán | 18 Addo | 19 Lamey | 20 Afellay | 21 Zoetebier | 23 Coe | 24 Nguyen | 25 de Jong | 27 Thompson | 30 Plá | 31 Carrizo | 35 Sibon | 37 Aissati | Salcido |
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