BRUSSELS: Domenico Tedesco will take over as head coach of Belgium, the country’s federation announced (RBFA) on Wednesday.

The 37-year-old Italy-born Tedesco succeeds Roberto Martinez, who stepped down after Belgium failed to qualify for the knockout stages at the World Cup in Qatar. “His mission is to qualify the Belgian Red Devils for the Euro 2024 in Germany. The first qualifying match will be played on March 24 in Stockholm against Sweden,” the RBFA said.

Tedesco, who has coached Schalke, Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig, will be presented to the press later on Wednesday. “For me it is a great honour to be the new head coach of Belgium. I’m really looking forward to the task and I’m extremely motivated. I had a very good feeling right from the first conversation,” Tedesco said on the RBFA website.

The appointment had been expected since late January. The delay led to suspicion that Tedesco was considering the vacant Hoffenheim job. Barely 15 minutes after the RBFA announcement, the Bundesliga club tweeted they had hired Pellegrino Matarazzo. Belgium were linked with an impressive list of potential candidates, including former assistant Thierry Henry, who the players reportedly supported but who did not apply.

Tedesco does not match the criteria laid out by the RBFA in an advertisement on their web site in December when they said they were seeking a coach with “the necessary international experience at top level” who was a “serial winner”.

Tedesco joined Spartak in October 2019 and led the club to a second-place finish in the Russian Premier League in 2021 but then opted to leave the club. He took over at RB Leipzig, winning the German Cup last season, before being fired after a dismal start to the current campaign.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023