Scottish Premier League Club Glasgow Rangers' former manager, Dick Advocaat, has taken over as manager of South Korea.The 58-year-old Dutchman resigned from his position in charge of the United Arab Emirates team over the weekend.He has signed a contract to coach South Korea until after the 2006 World Cup finals and replaces his compatriot Jo Bonfrere, who resigned three weeks ago.

Lee Hoi-Taek, head of the Korean Football Association's technical committee, said: "We believe he is the best card for us." Advocaat ended an unhappy six-month spell as Borussia Monchengladbach coach in April, having stepped down as boss of the Netherlands after the debacle of the Euro 2004 finals.

That was his second spell as Dutch coach, having led them to the quarter-finals of the 1994 World Cup in his first stint in charge. He helped Rangers to a domestic treble in the 1998-99 season and added a second Scottish Premier League title in 2000.

South Korea have already qualified for the 2006 finals,so Advocaat has the luxury of working on tactics with his new charges instead of having to worry about getting results, as co-hosts with Japan in 2002, they became the first team from Asia to reach the World Cup semi-finals, with another Dutchman, Guus Hiddink, in charge of the team.

Deposed coach Bonfrere came under pressure to quit because of poor performances in recent matches, including last month's World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Advocaat's first game in charge will be a home friendly against Iran on the 12th of October.

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