Anthuenis leads World Cup bid
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Article summary
Aimé Anthuenis will remain as Belgian national coach until July 2006.
Article body
Aimé Anthuenis will remain as Belgian national coach until July 2006, the Royal Belgium Football Association (KBVB) has announced.
Young squad
Anthuenis has signed a two-year extension to his contract until the 2006 FIFA World Cup despite his side not qualifying for the UEFA EURO 2004™ finals. He used the qualifiers to introduce young players including Thomas Buffel, Jelle Van Damme and Tom Soetaers, but they were pipped to second place in Group 8 by Croatia on head-to-head record.
'Very happy'
"Both parties are very happy with the contract extension," KBVB chairman Jan Peeters said. "It was not really difficult to reach an agreement. Our goal is qualification for the World Cup. We will now miss the [UEFA] European Championship, so we cannot afford to miss another tournament now."
Success foreseen
Anthuenis, who succeeded Robert Waseige after the 2002 World Cup having previously coached KRC Genk and RSC Anderlecht to the Belgian title, said: "I believe I can achieve success with this younger team."
