Dick Advocaat could replace Hiddink as Russia national team coach

Dutch trainer Dick Advocaat, dismissed by Zenit St. Petersburg in August, could take over from Guus Hiddink as coach of the Russian national side, a Russian sports newspaper said.

MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Dutch trainer Dick Advocaat, dismissed by Zenit St. Petersburg in August, could take over from Guus Hiddink as coach of the Russian national side, a Russian sports newspaper said.

Hiddink's contract runs until July 2010, but after Russia lost 1-0 in Slovenia on Wednesday and failed to make the 2010 World Cup, speculation has grown that Hiddink may leave.

According to the Sports Express newspaper, former Zenit president Sergei Fursenko will most likely head the Russian Football Union after the resignation of the union's current president, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, which is expected to be announced on Monday.

If Fursenko is elected new president of the union and Hiddink resigns as coach of the Russian national football team, the former could invite Advocaat to coach the national side because he was one of the key supporters of Advocaat's candidacy to lead Zenith in 2006.

The Dutchman's three years as trainer were the most successful in Zenit's history, with the club's first Russian Premier League title followed in 2008 by the UEFA Cup.

Advocaat is currently working with the Belgian national side.

Guus Hiddink announced after Russia's catastrophic defeat to Slovenia that he would decide his future in the next few months.