Belarus bank on Stange

Bernd Stange has been named as the new coach of Belarus, agreeing to lead the national team until after the qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

First games
The 59-year-old takes over following the resignation of Yuri Puntus, who picked up just seven points from as many UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers. The German will be in the dugout for the home friendly against Israel on 22 August before preparing for the visit of Romania in Group G on 8 September.

Early retirement
Stange achieved little as a player, retiring at the age of 22 through injury to work at FC Carl Zeiss Jena under Hans Meyer, who oversaw two East German league titles and two East German Cups in the 1970s. He was named East Germany coach in 1982 having worked for a number of years with the Under-21 side, later returning to Carl Zeiss and coaching Hertha BSC Berlin and VfB Leipzig in the 1990s. Hans Meyer

Foreign postings
He then moved abroad, taking charge of clubs in Ukraine and Australia, the national teams of Oman and Iraq - leading them to the 2004 Olympic Football Tournament but resigning before the finals in Athens, in which Iraq finished fourth - and, for two years from January 2005, Apollon Limassol FC where he won the Cypriot title in his first season in charge.