(Football news) Belgium have confirmed the appointment of Domenico Tedesco as their new manager at least till Euro 2024. The former RB Leipzig head coach takes over the head coach position from Roberto Martinez, who stepped down from his position after Belgium’s group-stage exit from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Martinez has since gone on to succeed Fernando Santos as the Portugal manager which subsequently ended a six-year spell in charge of the Red Devils for the former Wigan Athletic and Everton boss.Tedesco on the other hand was sacked by RB Leipzig in September, and he has signed a contract with Belgium after the Euro 2024.

Tedesco has managed the youth teams of Stuttgart and Hoffenheim before taking on his first senior job with Erzgebirge Aue after that he spent two years in charge of Schalke between 2017 and 2019. The 37-year-old then moved to Russia with Spartak Moscow for a two-year spell before being appointed as the Leipzig manager post December 2021, and he won the DFB-Pokal in his first half-season with the club. He had taken Schalke to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga in his first season in charge but was sacked in March 2019 after a run of seven games without a win which included a 7-0 Champions League thrashing by Manchester City.

Tedesco was again sacked by the Leipzig hierarchy in September following a pair of crushing defeats to Eintracht Frankfurt (4-0) and Shakhtar Donetsk (4-1) in the Bundesliga and Champions League. The Italian subsequently won 21 games, drew eight and lost nine of his 38 matches in charge of the Red Bull club. In his first game in charge of Belgium it will come against Sweden in Euro 2024 qualifying stage in Group F on March 24. The Red Devils are also set to face Austria, Azerbaijan and Estonia in the group. 

Tedesco will be hopeful that he could lead this team into a new era as they only finished third in their World Cup 2022 group after taking four points from a possible nine against Croatia, Morocco and Canada. The so-called ‘golden generation’ is certainly done for as he will aim for a new style of play with young players. Tedesco as a manager loves giving opportunity to young players, we can see the likes of Luis Openda and Charles De Ketelaere be in the team as he looks to revamp the squad with some youthful exuberance. 

A statement on the official Belgian football website read: “The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is proud to announce that Domenico Tedesco has been appointed as the new national team coach. A Task Force was formed within the RBFA at the beginning of December, consisting of RBFA CEO Peter Bossaert and Operational Director Football Jelle Schelstraete, RBFA directors Sven Jacques and Pierre Locht, and Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe.

“This Taskforce was tasked with finding a new national coach, as well as advising on the further development of RBFA’s technical core. He [Tedesco] is known as a modern coach with top-level international experience, who likes to play an offensive style of football with plenty of forward pressure. His mission is to qualify the Belgian Red Devils for the EURO 2024 in Germany.”

Tedesco claimed that he had a “very good feeling” since first coming into contact with Belgium, adding: “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.”

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