South Sudan appoints Italian Stefano Cusin as new coach

Stefano Cusin (stefanocusin.com)

JUBA, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- The South Sudan soccer body on Wednesday named Italian Stefano Cusin as head coach of the country's national team.

The South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) said Cusin signed a two-year contract to replace Ashu Cyprian Besong, a Cameroonian.

SSFA said Cusin holds a UEFA Pro License and has worked in numerous countries including Italy, Iran, Palestine, Cyprus, South Africa, and most notably as an assistant coach at Wolverhampton in the English premier league in 2016.

Augustino Madout Parek, president of the South Sudan Football Association, said Cusin will oversee the growth of the senior men's national team, the Bright Stars, including youth football development as well as female coaches in the country.

"We have a new coach for our senior men's national team and he will be responsible for the football growth in the country. He is an ambitious coach, he holds UEFA Pro Licenses and has managed in more than 10 countries from different parts of the world," Madout told reporters in Juba.

He said the SSFA board chose Cusin because of his rich wealth of experience in football management in different parts of the globe, noting that his appointment is part of the country's efforts to transform the football sector.

On his part, Cusin thank the association for trusting him to lead the country's national football team, adding that the world's newest country's football hold potential to compete in the region, continent, and beyond.

"South Sudan Football Association is a big institution with big vision and that explains why I am here to work with them. We are not going to start from zero because they already have talented players who want to be competitive to build one nation," Cusin said.