Phillip Cocu, Dutch footballer and manager
Phillip John William Cocu (born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Championship club Derby County.Cocu was born in Eindhoven but raised in Zevenaar, playing youth football for local clubs DCS and De Graafschap. After a year at AFC '34, he started his professional career at AZ. In 1990, Cocu moved to Vitesse. A broken fibula disrupted his first season, but he became a first-team regular in the following four seasons. In 1995, he joined PSV, where he won the KNVB Cup and the Eredivisie title in 1997. Cocu played for Barcelona between 1998 and 2004. There, he would become club captain, win La Liga in 1999 and play two Champions League semi-finals. He left the club in 2004 as club record holder for the most league appearances by a foreign player. During Cocu's second stint at PSV, he won another three Eredivisie titles and reached the Champions League semi-finals. After a year at Al Jazira, Cocu retired from professional football.
Cocu debuted for the Netherlands national team in 1996 and appeared at the 1998 World Cup, scoring two goals but missing a penalty in the semi-finals against Brazil. He also played at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 1996, 2000 and 2004 European Championships. Cocu reached the semi-finals in the latter two tournaments and in 2004, he served as captain of the Dutch team. With 101 caps, Cocu is eighth on the list of most Dutch international appearances. During his career, he mainly played as a defensive "playmaker" in midfield, but became equally known for his ability to be fielded as a defender, wing back, winger or forward.
After his retirement from playing professional football, Cocu joined PSV again as youth coach and later assistant manager. He also served as assistant at the Dutch team under Bert van Marwijk between 2008 and 2012. Cocu was caretaker manager at PSV in 2012, during which he won the KNVB Cup. In 2013, he was officially appointed as PSV manager, and won three league titles in his five years at the club.