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See the full story · 1 sourcesPRAGUE (AP) — Spanish coach Santi Denia took over the Czech Republic national team on Friday to become the first foreigner in the post.
The Czech soccer association said the 52-year-old signed a two-year contract with an option to be extended.
Czech football association head David Trunda introduced Denia at a news conference in Prague.
“We greatly appreciate that an expert with such a credit and immense experience at the international level is joining the Czech national team,” Trunda said.
“I'm happy to be here and I'm extremely motivated, because I consider it a great opportunity to lead the Czech national team,” Denia said. “Czech football has a magnificent history and I honestly regard it as a great honor to be here.”
Denia replaced Miroslav Koubek who resigned after the team’s early exit from the World Cup .
Koubek acknowledged his responsibility for the poor results at the World Cup , where the Czechs lost to South Korea and Mexico and drew with South Africa. The Czechs finished on the bottom of Group A with one point.
Denia was a center-back in Atletico Madrid (1994-2005) and has two games on the national team to his credit.
As coach, he led Spain to gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics . He also claimed the European titles with Spain’s under-17 (2017) and under-19 teams (2019).
He was most recently in charge of Al-Shahania, a club in Qatar.
His first major task in the post will be to face tough opponents in League A of the Nations League. The Czechs open the league by hosting Croatia on Sept. 26 in a group which also includes England and World Cup champions Spain.
___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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