Advocaat joins Alkmaar on short-term basis

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THE HAGUE, Dec 7, 2009 (AFP) - Belgium coach Dick Advocaat has been given the green light by the Belgian football federation to take the reins at Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar "for some months".

Advocaat will replace Ronald Koeman as coach of Alkmaar and will likely start work with the club on Thursday, a day after its Champions League match against Standard Liege.

Koeman was sacked on Saturday just six months after his appointment as successor to Louis van Gaal, now with Bayern Munich.

Advocaat, who counts stints at PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Zenit Saint-Petersburg and the Dutch national team on his CV, was named Belgium coach in August and is under contract until 2012.

He will now combine both coaching roles, something that has caused a stink in the Belgian media.

But the Belgian federation said it will ask for financial compensation from Alkmaar and that it also received assurances from Advocaat that his work with Belgium would continue as expected during his interim stay in the Netherlands.