Clarence Seedorf has been appointed Cameroon’s head coach.
Seedorf will be assisted by his compatriot Patrick Kluivert and will replace Hugo Broos. They have just less than one year to prepare the Indomitable Lions for AFCON 209 that will be held on home soil. Seedorf and Kluivert have been confirmed by Cameroon’s Ministry of Sports after initial talks with Sven-Goran Eriksson failed.
Seedorf managed AC Milan, Shenzhen and Deportivo La Coruna and incidentally, his contract was terminated by those sides after six months at the helm. Both Kluivert and Seedorf played for Netherlands national team at the same time.
The contract by the Ministry of Sports and the former AC Milan and Real Madrid midfielder will be revealed next month.
Regarded by many as one of the best midfielders of his generation, in 2004, he was chosen by Pelé as part of the FIFA 100. Seedorf is one of the most decorated Dutch players ever, and has won domestic and continental titles while playing for clubs in the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Brazil.
He is considered one of the most successful players in UEFA Champions League history, as he is the first, and currently the only, player to have won the Champions League with three clubs – once with Ajax, in 1995, once with Real Madrid, in 1998and twice with Milan, in 2003 and 2007.
At international level, he represented the Netherlands on 87 occasions, and took part at three UEFA European Football Championships (1996, 2000, 2004) and the 1998 FIFA World Cup, reaching the semi-finals of the latter three tournaments.
Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, Seedorf was raised in Almere, Flevoland, where he moved when he was two years old. Growing up in a footballing family, with both his younger brothers Jürgen and Chedric Seedorf, and his father former player and talent agent Johann Seedorf, Clarence began his career at the age of six in the youth ranks of his local amateur sides VV AS ’80 and Real Almere, before being discovered and recruited to the ranks of nearby Dutch giants Ajax by Urgent Scouting team, the talent agency set up by Johan Cruyff, and which was responsible for recruiting the likes of Frank and Ronald de Boer, Edgar Davids, Robert Witschgeand Patrick Kluivert to the club as well.
Following in their brother’s footsteps, under the guidance of their father and talent agent, Seedorf’s siblings, as well as cousin Stefano, would later also join the ranks of Ajax. He is also a pundit on BBC.
Seedorf was appointed the new head coach of Milan on 16 January 2014, terminating his contract with Botafogo early in order to take on the managerial role, with Milan languishing in 11th in the Serie A table. On 19 January, he won his first managerial match, played against Hellas Verona, with Mario Balotelli scoring the lone goal of the game.
Despite overseeing the club’s first five-match winning run since 2011, and first Serie A victory in the Milan derby against Inter since 2011, Seedorf was dismissed by Milan on 9 June 2014 after just four months on the job, with Filippo Inzaghi being named as his successor. During the Dutchman’s time at the helm of the club, Milan gained a total of 35 out of a possible 57 points – the fourth-most out of all Serie A sides (one less than Napoli’s corresponding total and six less than Roma’s).
On 7 July 2016, Seedorf was appointed the new manager of China League One team Shenzhen F.C. He failed to lead the team to promote to the first tier and was replaced by Sven-Göran Eriksson on 5 December 2016.
On 21 December 2017, Seedorf was appointed as the new manager of Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense; the role would see him act as both a coach and a sporting director, akin to that of an English-style manager. Later in the month, the deal was cancelled after both parties failed to reach an agreement.
On 5 February 2018, Seedorf was appointed as manager of Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruña for the remainder of the 2017–18 season. With just two wins in sixteen matches, Seedorf failed to prevent Deportivo’s relegation in the La Liga. On 22 May 2018, his departure from the club was confirmed.[
On 4 August 2018, Seedorf was appointed the new manager of the Cameroon national team, after the deal for Sven-Göran Eriksson fell through. He was joined by compatriot, Patrick Kluivert (assistant manager)