Wales put faith in Hughes

Wales manager Mark Hughes has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him in the job until 2006.

Full-time job
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) announced on Saturday that the former Manchester United FC striker, who had combined playing with officially doing the job on a part-time basis since taking charge at the end of 1999, will now be in charge on a permanent basis.

Two-year extension
"Mark has signed a two-year extension to his current contract which he delivered to our offices on Friday," said an FAW spokesman. "His deal until now had been on a part-time basis, but he will now be on a full-time contract for the next four years."

Excellent run
Hughes has steered Wales to an eight-match unbeaten run and Wales have made an excellent start to their UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying campaign, winning their first three games to boost their chances of reaching their first major tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup finals.

Terrific result
They sit on top of Group Nine with three wins out of three, defeating Finland and Azerbaijan, and also achieved one of the greatest results in their history last October by beating Italy 2-1. Hughes, capped more than 70 times by Wales, retired from playing in July after not being offered a new contract by Blackburn Rovers FC.