Lamine Cham BBC Sport, Banjul

Antoine Hey played for the German side Schalke

Gambia have ended their three-year search for a national team coach after the appointment of Germany's Antoine Hey on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old replaces local coach Sang Ndong, who was sacked in 2003.

Hey's main task is to qualify Gambia for their first ever African Nations Cup finals in 2008.

The Scorpions lead Group Eight of the 2008 African Nations Cup qualifiers after beating Cape Verde 2-0 in their opening match earlier this month.

Their next game is away to Algeria on 8 October.

"Currently we lead our group and the match against Algeria is one of the tasks ahead of us if we are to qualify for the first time,'' Hey told BBC Sport.

Their other group opponents are Guinea.

Hey played for the Bundesliga sides Schalke and Fortuna Dusseldorf in the 1990s.

His previous coaching experience has been with Lesotho as well as the German lower division side Neumunster in the 2003-2004 season.