AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands),
Vitesse Arnhem (Netherlands), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), FC
Barcelona (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Honours
1999 Spanish
League Champion (FC Barcelona)
Biography
Philip Cocu (born October 29, 1970 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch
football midfielder currently playing for PSV Eindhoven. He
first started out playing football at amateur level with clubs
like AFC '34 and DCS Zevenaar. He signed his first professional
contract with AZ Alkmaar in the 1988/1989 season when he was
only 17 years old. After an encouraging start at the club, he
signed on at Vitesse Arnhem in 1990.
His career at Vitesse was blighted by him breaking his right leg
in his first game against Sparta Rotterdam. After fully
recovering in 1992, his talents were finally recognised, as he
assisted his club into gaining promotion into the UEFA Cup
competition as well as a top five finish in the Eredivisie. Ajax
Amsterdam tried to sign him twice when he was at Vitesse but it
was Dick Advocaat who signed him for PSV Eindhoven in 1995. Dick
Advocaat himself was appointed the coach of Netherlands in the
previous year for the World Cup 1994 where the 'Oranje' lost at
the quarter-final stage against Brazil.
It was at PSV that Cocu finally got called-up to the national
squad and he was handed his debut on 24 April 1996 against
Germany and was even selected in the Dutch national team for the
Euro 1996 tournament. During his tenure at PSV, he won many
Eredivisie titles but did not enjoy the same success in European
cup competitions. His international team colleagues such as Jaap
Stam, Arthur Numan, Boudewijn Zenden all form the core of the
PSV squad although he was also teammate of Ronaldo.
Cocu was also selected by Guus Hiddink for the World Cup 1998 in
France where he scored two goals in the group stage. It proved
to be another disappointing campaign for the Dutch team as they
bowed out against Brazil in the semi-final, albeit by penalties
when both of the fiercely competitive sides square off in a 1-1
draw at full-time after the golden goal. For Cocu, his
disappointment was further heightened as he missed his penalty
kick and Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel saved his weak
shot as well as Ronald de Boer's spotkick. The Brazilians
converted all of their available chances and set up a final set-up
with France. To be fair, he was chosen to play in almost all the
positions except goalkeeper and forward in that tournament and
he played well. An example would be in the semi-final against
Brazil where he filled in the left defence spot as incumbent
Arthur Numan was suspended and substitute Winston Bogarde was
injured and was a match for the Brazilian fowards.
Having played some of his finest football at PSV, he jumped at
the opportunity to move on, this time with Primera Liga giants
FC Barcelona in 1998. Louis van Gaal who coached Barcelona at
that time also signed many Dutch World Cup players such as Frank
de Boer, Ronald de Boer, Patrick Kluivert, Boudewijn Zenden, as
well as Marc Overmars and the Spanish team was soon nicknamed 'Ajax
Barcelona'. Not surprisingly, Barcelona won the Primera Liga in
that season.
While many players were offloaded as is the case of the de Boer
brothers and Boudewijn Zenden, Cocu managed to stay on at
Barcelona for six seasons and defended his defensive midfield
position. At the international level, he represented his country
in the Euro 2000 tournament on home ground and also played in
the Euro 2004 in Portugal. His international tally is 87 caps
and 8 goals.
Cocu left FC Barcelona before the start of the Euro 2004 for his
old club PSV Eindhoven and has vowed to put the Euro 2004 defeat
behind him and would continue to represent his country in future
matches as he was named team captain after the retirement of
Frank de Boer.
