1. Phillip Cocu left the club in 2004 as club record holder for the most league appearances by a foreign player.
50 Facts About Phillip Cocu
1. 2.
Phillip 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.
3.
Phillip Cocu played at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 1996,2000 and 2004 European Championships.
4.
Phillip Cocu reached the semi-finals in the latter two tournaments and in 2004, he served as captain of the Dutch team.
5.
Phillip Cocu served as assistant at the Dutch team under Bert van Marwijk between 2008 and 2012.
6.
Phillip Cocu was caretaker manager at PSV in 2012, during which he won the KNVB Cup.
7.
Phillip Cocu was born in Eindhoven, but he and his family moved to Zevenaar when he was three years old after his father switched jobs.
8.
Phillip Cocu started playing youth football at the local amateur club DCS when he was six.
9.
Phillip Cocu played for DCS until he was picked up by De Graafschap's youth academy.
10.
Phillip Cocu began in the AZ reserve squad but was added to the first team.
11.
Phillip Cocu made his professional debut on 22 January 1989, when assistant coach Hugo Hovenkamp brought him on in an Eerste Divisie match against NEC.
12.
Phillip Cocu would go on and score four goals in his first season.
13.
Phillip Cocu played only eight matches in his first Vitesse season after he suffered a broken fibula.
14.
Phillip Cocu had a more productive second season, playing most matches and scoring three times.
15.
Phillip Cocu netted his first Vitesse goal in August 1991 in a match against ADO Den Haag.
16.
In 1992, Phillip Cocu played his first European match when Vitesse faced Derry City.
17.
Phillip Cocu played all league matches and doubled his goal tally in his third season.
18.
Phillip Cocu was signed in June 1995 in a joint-transfer with Chris van der Weerden.
19.
Phillip Cocu immediately scored in his PSV debut against Fortuna Sittard.
20.
In Barcelona, Phillip Cocu found himself with fellow Dutchmen Louis van Gaal, Michael Reiziger, Frank de Boer, Patrick Kluivert, Boudewijn Zenden, Ronald de Boer and Winston Bogarde.
21.
Phillip Cocu scored six league goals, including two against Real Oviedo and two against Athletic Bilbao.
22.
Barcelona and Phillip Cocu reached the Champions League semi-finals, where they were knocked-out by Valencia.
23.
Phillip Cocu scored Barcelona's first goal of the league season, deciding the match against Athletic Bilbao.
24.
Phillip Cocu played 36 league matches in total and frequently served as the team captain.
25.
Phillip Cocu was disappointed by the club's decision, but was happy to return to PSV, whose offer always remained.
26.
Phillip Cocu was handed his second yellow card against Willem II after being provoked by Martijn Reuser.
27.
When Mark van Bommel left PSV in 2005, Phillip Cocu was handed the role of captain by manager Guus Hiddink.
28.
In July 2009, Phillip Cocu received a testimonial match from PSV at the Philips Stadion.
29.
Phillip Cocu appeared as a substitute in two group stage matches and was included in the first team for the quarter-final defeat against France.
30.
Two years later, the Dutch team qualified for the 1998 World Cup, with Phillip Cocu having secured his place as a first-team member.
31.
Phillip Cocu appeared in all World Cup matches, while scoring in the group stage matches against South Korea and Mexico.
32.
Phillip Cocu took the third Dutch penalty, but his attempt was saved by Claudio Taffarel.
33.
The Netherlands and Phillip Cocu failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup in a qualification group with Portugal and the Republic of Ireland.
34.
In 2003, Phillip Cocu received his first international sending-off in a friendly match against Belgium.
35.
The Netherlands qualified for the 2006 World Cup, with Phillip Cocu scoring three times in the qualifying matches.
36.
Phillip Cocu was a first-team member in most games, but a sending-off against Andorra in September 2005 meant that Phillip Cocu missed the last two qualifiers.
37.
At the World Cup, the Netherlands progressed from the group stage, but were knocked out by Portugal in the second round, with Phillip Cocu coming close to equalizing by hitting the crossbar shortly after the start of the second half.
38.
Phillip Cocu was granted a farewell and a golden plaque for his services before the match against Belarus in September 2006.
39.
In 2011, Phillip Cocu was named bondsridder of the Royal Dutch Football Association, an honorary title for his service to Dutch football.
40.
Phillip Cocu joined the professional football coach course to achieve the necessary coaching badges and returned to PSV to assist in several youth squads.
41.
Phillip Cocu was immediately appointed second assistant of Bert van Marwijk, who became manager of the Netherlands national team.
42.
In December 2010, Phillip Cocu was promoted to first assistant manager at the Dutch national team after Frank de Boer became manager of Ajax.
43.
When Fred Rutten was dismissed as PSV manager in March 2012, Phillip Cocu was appointed as caretaker manager for the remainder of the season.
44.
Eager to gain more experience in coaching a team, Phillip Cocu took up the position of the PSV under-19 coach.
45.
Phillip Cocu gave up his job as assistant manager at the Dutch national team after Euro 2012, in which the Netherlands were eliminated in the first round.
46.
On 22 June 2018, Phillip Cocu was appointed on a three-year deal at Turkey's Fenerbahce, who were under new ownership.
47.
On 5 July 2019, Phillip Cocu was announced as the new manager of Championship club Derby County.
48.
Phillip Cocu guided Derby to a 10th-place finish, whilst installing a sense of total football locally known as Cocuball.
49.
Phillip Cocu returned to work after almost two years on 26 September 2022, being appointed at 14th-placed Vitesse, where he had left as a player in 1995.
50.
Phillip Cocu replaced Thomas Letsch, who had left for VfL Bochum.