Janevski excited to accept FYROM role

Cedomir Janevski has been appointed as the new coach of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia following John Toshack's departure last week.

Janevski, 51, has signed a contract running until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign and will begin his reign away to Croatia on 7 September, with Serbia, Scotland, Wales and Belgium also in Group A. "I believe that we have the right man for the job," said Football Association of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FFM) president Ilcho Gjorgioski. "Janevski fully met our criteria and we accepted him with open arms. Welcome home 'Cede' – this is where you belong."

Most recently in charge of Cypriot club Ethnikos Achnas FC, Janevski has previously coached Club Brugge KV – guiding them to the 2007 Belgian Cup – as well as FK Crvena zvezda and Enosis Neon Paralimni FC. Capped by both the former Yugoslavia and FYROM, Janevski was part of FK Vardar's 'golden generation' that won the 1987 Yugoslavian title and went on to play for, Club Brugge, R. Charleloi SC, Istanbulspor AŞ and KSC Lokeren OV.

Janevski said: "This represents a great honour for myself, but a great responsibility as well. It feels good to be in Macedonia after many years away from the country. Now, there's a lot of work to be done.

"My ambition is to create a team that will play in a disciplined manner and have strong belief in its abilities. A team with a winning mentality, aspiring for bigger achievements. The players will have to respect their opponents, but also have a strong belief in their own abilities. I can't speculate on which spot we'll take at the end [of qualifying] but we are ambitious to achieve a good result."