Italian Dario Bonetti is the new coach of Zambia's national team
The Football Association of Zambia (Faz) has confirmed former Juventus defender Dario Bonetti as the new coach of Chipolopolo.
The Italian takes over from Frenchman Herve Renard, who quit in March.
The 48-year-old Bonetti, who played for Roma and AC Milan and won two caps for Italy, has previously coached in Hungary, Scotland and Romania.
"He has signed a two-year contract," Faz spokesperson Emmanuel Munaile told BBC Sport.
"Football is a very complicated sport. You can't judge someone before he even starts working.
"If it were so, you wouldn't have some of the best coaches in the world.
"Coaches are not born already known. They start from somewhere."
Munaile said Bonetti will be helped by three overseas assistant coaches, who he has chosen himself.
Bonetti arrived in Zambia on Saturday morning and was in the stands in the afternoon to watch the under-20 side beat Mauritius 1-0 in the first leg second round qualifier for the 2011 African Championships.
His first game will be a friendly away to Uganda on 11 August before a home match against the Comoros Islands in September in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The president of Faz, Kalusha Bwalya, says Bonetti got the job for several reasons.
"We wanted to bring in a coach with a profile, who's hungry, who wants to work, who has direction, who's determined and maybe wants to make a name for himself," Bwalya told BBC Sport.
"We were also looking at the age group - we thought between 40 and 50.
"We're going to give him a big challenge - the aim of the Football Association of Zambia is to be in the top 10 of African football.
"We have a fantastic team, a very young team so we needed a coach who'd come and bring a different approach to the team - just like Herve Renard did."
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