Sergio Batista, who has been in charge of the Argentina national side since Diego Maradona’s contract expired after the 2010 World Cup, has been given the job on a permanent basis.
The 47-year-old, who guided Argentina’s Under-23 team to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics, has agreed a contract up to the end of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
“I’m fulfilling a dream, one of my great objectives,” said Batista, who won the World Cup as a player in 1986.
“I want us to win what we so desire, the last game of the 2014 World Cup.”
When he was in temporary charge of the team, Batista led the team to wins over the Republic of Ireland and Spain as well as a defeat to Japan.
Maradona was in charge of the team for 20 months until their 4-0 loss to Germany in this year’s World Cup quarter-finals.
He was initially offered a new contract before it was withdrawn after a disagreement over his backroom staff.
