Greece hires John van’t Schip as national team coach

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Former Netherlands national team player John van’t Schip has been named coach of Greece’s national team, which is off to a disappointing start in qualifying for next year’s European Championship.

The Greek Football Federation said Wednesday that the 55-year-old van’t Schip has been hired on a two-year contract, replacing Angelos Anastasiadis, whose dismissal was also announced on Wednesday.

Greece, the Euro 2004 champion, has not played in a major tournament since the World Cup in Brazil five years ago, and has lost two of its four qualifying games for Euro 2020, including a 3-0 home defeat to Italy.

Van’t Schip is a Dutch Canadian who was born in British Columbia. The former midfielder has been an assistant coach for Ajax and the Dutch national team and has also coached clubs in Mexico and Australia.