Matthäus to coach Bulgaria

Lothar Matthäus has been appointed the new Bulgaria coach following the resignation of Stanimir Stoilov earlier this month.

Germany's most-capped player has agreed a one-year contract running until the end of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying, with the option for a two-year extension, Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) president Borislav Mihailov announced on Tuesday. Former Bulgarian international Tsanko Tsvetanov remains assistant and Under-21 coach Mihail Madanski will also be part of Matthäus's team.

"We will sign officially in the next few days, but everything is agreed and he will lead the national team for next month's EURO 2012 qualifier against Wales [on 8 October]," Mihailov said. "The contract will be for one year with an option for a further two. There is no coach who can promise qualification after two defeats, that's why the contract is for such a length. If the team manages to reach the play-offs, it will be good."

Matthäus, 49, has a difficult task after taking over a team who lost their opening Group G qualifiers 4-0 in England and 1-0 at home to Montenegro. Capped 150 times by Germany, Matthäus won the 1980 UEFA European Championship and captained the squad to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup – though suffering a quarter-final defeat by Mihailov's Bulgaria four years later. He has coached clubs in Austria, Serbia, Brazil and Israel, and from 2003 and 2005 was in charge of the Hungarian national team.