体坛英语新闻：Stevanovic appointed as coach of Ghana "Black Stars"

ACCRA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ghana Football Association (GFA) confirmed on Monday that Serbian Goran Stevanovic had been appointed as the new head coach for the men's national soccer team, nicknamed the Black Stars.

A statement issued by GFA said the coach and the soccer authorities finalized the details of the contract earlier last Monday.

"The Ghana Football Association has appointed a new coach for the Black Stars. He is in the person of Goran Stevanovic," the statement said.

"We have successfully negotiated with the coach and he would replace his compatriot, Milovan Rajevac," according to the statement.

Stevanovic, 44, is scheduled to attend a news conference Wednesday morning when he will officially take over the reign left over by Milovan Rajevac, who ended his two-year contract last August.

The national team coaching position became vacant for nearly five-months as a result of Rajevac's exit and assistant coach Akwasi Appiah was appointed as the stop-gap trainer in October to take the nation through the remaining qualifying matches to the African Cup of Nations in 2012.

The new trainer, who holds a UEFA professional coaching licence, started his coaching career in 2001 with Cukaricki Stamcom in the Serbian top flight before moving to the currently defunct club Zeleznik a year later.

He was the assistant coach for Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade between 2007 and 2009 and was promoted as head coach of the club where he stayed for 18 months.

He retired as the coach of Partizan Belgrade last year under the pressure from fans over league results.

Stevanovic's coaching philosophy is heavily slanted towards the modern 4-5-1 formation used by most coaches in the top leagues of Europe.

As a former midfielder he is known to use his midfield as the base of organizing his side, using the center to block the opponent with compact midfield, while using wingers to start swift attacks.

Stevanovic also enjoyed a distinguished career at club level with several major European sides including Partizan Belgrade, Osasuna, and Farense Setubal.