A former Premier League star has been named the new manager of Australia.
The ex-Crystal Palace centre-back, 51, has penned a two-year deal with the Socceroos as he looks to steer his country out of a crisis.
He succeeds Graham Arnold after he resigned last week following a defeat to Bahrain and draw with Indonesia in their World Cup qualifying campaign.
The results leave Australia fifth in a group of six – with only the top two automatically progressing to the World Cup, while third and fourth go into another round and a potential play-off.
Yet despite their recent dismal run, the coach now taking charge, who earned 58 caps for Australia, is looking forward to the task at hand.
That man is Tony Popovic.
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Speaking about the job, he said: “This is the ultimate challenge, and I’m excited by it.
“This campaign hasn’t started the best, but I know there’s enough time and enough games to really be aiming for that top spot to go through automatically.”
He went on to add: “Five years ago, I wasn’t ready for this role. Three years ago, two years ago, I wouldn’t have looked at this role.
“I’m ready, I want this job, so I’m here because I want to be here.”
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Popovic spent five years playing in England for Crystal Palace, four of which were spent in the Premier League.
He also played in Australia, Japan and the Middle East, before he hung up his boots in 2008 – two years after representing his country at the World Cup in Germany.
Popovic went straight into coaching as an assistant at his former club Sydney FC where he stayed for a further three years.
He then returned to England to become Dougie Freedman’s assistant at Palace.
His first role as head coach came with Western Sydney Wanderers in 2012 where he won the A-League title.
He also claimed Australia’s top flight with Perth Glory, while his other managerial stints have come at Turkish side Karabukspor, Greek club Xanthi, and most recently Melbourne Victory who he left in June.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
