(Reuters) – Algeria have named Vladimir Petkovic, the former manager of Switzerland, as the new coach of their national team, as announced by the Algeria Football Association on Thursday.
At 60 years old, Petkovic led Switzerland for seven years, where he guided them to the quarter-finals of the last European Championship by securing a victory over world champions France in the round of 16.
Originally from Bosnia, Petkovic successfully led Switzerland to the 2018 World Cup as well as two European Championship finals before taking on a brief coaching stint with French club Girondins de Bordeaux.
Algeria is currently leading their African World Cup qualifying group with six points, ahead of Botswana, Guinea, Uganda, Mozambique, and Somalia.
Petkovic will be stepping in to replace Djamel Belmadi, who departed in January after Algeria, who are the twice continental champions, were unable to advance past the group stage at the Africa Cup of Nations.
(Ahmed Assal and Ashraf Hamed Atta, editing by Ed Osmond)
