Ethiopian league champions Saint George have announced the appointment of Italian FIFA World Cup™ winner Giuseppe Dossena as coach on a two-year contract.

Dossena, who has coached Ghana and served as assistant to Cesare Maldini during Paraguay's 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign, signed the agreement with club president Abennet Gebremeskel on Saturday, team manager Daniel Kassa told AFP.

Saint George, the country's oldest and most successful football club, are reigning champions of Ethiopia's 18-team Premier League and have been crowned champions seven times this decade.

The 52-year-old Dossena will be tasked with turning around the team's fortunes at continental level, where they have failed to sparkle despite their dominance in the domestic league.

Dossena is Saint George's fourth foreign coach in recent years, a period during which the club have invested heavily on players and infrastructure, including a new stadium earlier this year.

A veteran of spells with Sampdoria, Udinese and Bologna in Italy's Serie A, Dossena won 38 caps for Italy, and was a member of the 1982 FIFA World Cup winning squad.