Advocaat commits to Zenit

Dick Advocaat has signed a fresh one-year contract with newly-crowned Russian champions FC Zenit St. Petersburg, having originally delayed his decision.

Lengthy talks
Discussions began at the beginning of the summer, though the 60-year-old Dutch coach preferred to delay negotiations until the end of the Premier-Liga season. That came ten days ago when Zenit beat FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast 1-0 to clinch their first title since the Soviet league success of 1984. The Australian Football Federation had hoped to capture Advocaat's services themselves but the veteran has opted to continue with Zenit, and oversee their maiden UEFA Champions League campaign next term.