Soccer-Rajevac returns as coach of Ghana for second spell

He was previously Ghana coach from 2008 to 2010, including at the World Cup in South Africa where they lost to Uruguay on post-match penalties in the quarter-finals to narrowly miss out on becoming the first African nation to reach the last four. Rajevac left afterwards for a lucrative job as Qatar coach, and later took charge of Algeria and Thailand.

Ghana named Milovan Rajevac as their new coach on Friday, with the Serbian returning to the job he held when the west African country reached the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals. Rajevac has signed a one-year contract, with the option of an extra year, the Ghana FA said at a news conference.

The 67-year-old Rajevac has little time to prepare for his first assignment, with two World Cup qualifiers coming up against Zimbabwe next month. He replaces Charles Akonnor, who was sacked after Ghana collected three points from their opening two Group G qualifiers earlier this month.

They narrowly beat Ethiopia 1-0 at home on Sept. 3 but then lost to South Africa in Johannesburg three days later. They will play Zimbabwe at Cape Coast on Oct. 9 and then travel away for the return in Harare three days later. There are two more World Cup qualifiers in November and if Ghana win their group they proceed to the playoffs in March to determine Africa's five representatives for Qatar 2022.

Rajevac will also take Ghana to next January's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon. He was previously Ghana coach from 2008 to 2010, including at the World Cup in South Africa where they lost to Uruguay on post-match penalties in the quarter-finals to narrowly miss out on becoming the first African nation to reach the last four.

Rajevac left afterwards for a lucrative job as Qatar coach, and later took charge of Algeria and Thailand. (Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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