Former Belgium boss Georges Leekens was named Algeria coach on Thursday, two days after losing his job at Belgian club Lokeren.
His first task could be taking charge of The Fennecs in the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Nigeria on November 12 in Uyo.
The Algerian Football Federation said that Leekens, 67, had been chosen to replace Serbian Milovan Rajevac, who was sacked following Algeria’s home draw with Cameroon in the opening round of African World Cup group qualifiers earlier this month.
Leekens, who twice coached Belgium and was in charge of Tunisia at the 2015 African Nations Cup finals, returns to the post he held for six months in 2003 before quitting for “family reasons”.
Algeria will then take part in the 2017 African Nations Cup finals in Gabon in January, where they have been drawn in Group B with Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Senegal.
Leekens left Lokeren after they lost 2-1 to Oostende in the Belgian league on Tuesday, which left them struggling near the foot of the table, having lost eight of their opening 12 games of the season. The much-travelled coach had been at Lokeren for a year and wikipedia say he’s been involved with Algeria previously in 2003.