Leekens named as new Algeria coach

Algiers: Belgium’s Georges Leekens was Thursday named as the new coach of Algeria, a post he briefly also held in 2003, the country’s football federation announced. The 67-year-old takes over from Serbia’s Milovan Rajevac who was sacked earlier this month after only three months in charge following a 1-1 draw with Cameroon in a tough World Cup qualifying group also featuring Nigeria and Zambia. Leekens was previously coach of Belgium (1997-1999 and 2010-2012) and Tunisia (2014-2015). Algeria are one of the favourites for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations title. They have been drawn in Group B at the January 14-February 5 tournament in Gabon along with Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Senegal.