Koeman returns to PSV as coach
Benfica coach Ronald Koeman said he was leaving the Portuguese club to manage newly-crowned Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, who he helped lead to the European Cup in 1988, on a two year contract.
The 43-year-old will replace Guus Hiddink who will take over as Russia's national coach after this year's World Cup. Koeman still had one year left on his two-year contract with Benfica
"It is very important for me to return to Holland, my family is there," he told a news conference in Lisbon.
"I am a former PSV Eindhoven player so it is important to return, it is an honour for me to succeed Hiddink," he added.
Under his guidance Benfica reached the quarter-final stages of the Champions League, where they were eliminated 2-0 on aggregate by Barcelona, but the club finished third in the Portuguese league and therefore failed to secure an automatic place in the top European club competition.
Lisbon-based Benfica, who won their first domestic title in 11 years last year under Giovanni Trapattoni, ended the season with 67 points, 12 points behind champions FC Porto.
Assistant coach Fernando Chalana will become Benfica manager until a replacement is found, Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira said.
Koeman, a former Netherlands international and Ajax manager, played for PSV Eindhoven between 1986 and 1989, before moving to Barcelona, for whom he scored the winning goal as they beat Sampdoria to win the 1992 European Cup.
AFP
