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Chelsea confirm Hiddink appointment

Russia coach Guus Hiddink will take charge of UEFA Champions League contenders Chelsea FC, with the London club confirming that the Dutchman "will become temporary coach until the end of the season".

Guus Hiddink will combine the Russia and Chelsea jobs
Guus Hiddink will combine the Russia and Chelsea jobs ©Getty Images

Chelsea FC have confirmed that Russia coach Guus Hiddink will take charge of the club until the end of the season.

Vacant post
The 62-year-old takes over following the dismissal of Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday, and will lead Chelsea for the remainder of their 2008/09 UEFA Champions League campaign, kicking off with the first knockout round tie against Juventus on 25 February and 10 March. "I must say that this is an exceptional situation," Hiddink said. "If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight 'no', but Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner [Roman Abramovich]."

Dual role
Hiddink will undertake his duties with the Premier League side in tandem with his job as coach of Russia, but sees no serious conflict in his dual role – he led Australia to the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals while coaching PSV Eindhoven. "Of course, when Russia play [World Cup qualifiers] I would go there to coach them as there won't be any [league] games during that time," he said. "I have already [combined two jobs] a couple of years ago when I was coaching Australia and PSV, so I'm familiar with the situation and what it takes."

Russian connection
Chelsea say that Hiddink will meet up with his new charges "later this week" and took the opportunity to "thank the Russian Football Union for their understanding and co-operation". Chelsea owner Abramovich has maintained links with football in his native Russia, with Hiddink having said: "I wanted to do something for Roman Abramovich who has done so much for Russian football."

European champion
Hiddink was coach of the PSV team that won the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1988 and also guided the Dutch club to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals four seasons ago. He has also coached De Graafschap, Fenerbahçe SK, Valencia CF, Real Madrid CF and Real Betis Balompié as well as the Netherlands, Korea Republic and Australia national sides. He steered Russia to the semi-finals of UEFA EURO 2008™ last summer.

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