(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-26 09:46

BELGRADE - Former Yugoslavia defender Miroslav Djukic was named Serbia's new coach on Wednesday after sealing a two-year contract with the country's Football Association (FSS).

Miroslav Djukic, seen here in June 2007, was on Tuesday named as the new coach of Serbia with a mission to qualify the team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. [Agencies]

Djukic, who steered Serbia's under-21 side to the European Championship final in June, officially takes over on Jan 1 and will also be in charge of the team that qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the FSS said.

He succeeds Spaniard Javier Clemente, who was sacked earlier this month after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

"The FSS executive board made a unanimous decision to appoint Djukic as the national team's head coach and we have complete faith that he will take Serbia back to winning ways," FSS spokesman Aleksandar Boskovic told a news conference.

"The contract will be automatically extended by another six months if Serbia reach the World Cup 2010 finals in South Africa," he said.

The 41-year old Djukic, who stepped down at Partizan Belgrade last week after steering them to the top of the Serbian first division at the winter break, was upbeat about his chances of doing well.

"This is a great honour and we will do everything we can to qualify for the World Cup 2010 finals," he said.

"It will be an uphill task in a very tough group but we have the quality and the determination to take Serbia's soccer where it deserves to be."

Serbia have been drawn in Group 7 with World Cup 2006 finalists France, neighbours Romania, Austria, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands.

FRESH BLOOD

Djukic's first priority will be to reinvigorate the team that missed out on Euro 2008 and he believes injecting fresh blood from the under-21 side he coached will pay dividends.

"We want to play aggressive football and take the game to our rivals while keeping the flair and talent that brought success in the past.

"To do that, we need to bring in young prospects who will play their hearts out for their country, sing their national anthem with pride and win the hearts of all fans."

FSS president Zvezdan Terzic said he was confident he got the right man to replace Clemente after admitting he had originally wanted the 57-year old Basque to stay in charge.

"We needed a coach with character, enthusiasm and zest to take the national team forward and that's exactly what we got in Miroslav Djukic," he said.