Polish coach Henry Kasperczak has been confirmed as the new appointment in charge of the Tunisia national team.

The Tunisian Football Federation have decided to give the Pole a second attempt at leading the Carthage Eagles, as he first coached the national team between 1994 and 1998, taking them to the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), where they reached the final before losing to host nation South Africa.

The 68-year-old tactician replaces Georges Leekens, the Belgian who was in charge of Tunisia at the 2015 Nations Cup when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals in Equatorial Guinea.

The Tunisian Football Federation decided to grant the returning coach a three-year contract with a mandate to qualify for and reach the semi-final stage of the 2017 AFCON in Gabon, while also qualifying the national team to take part in the 2018 World Cup, which is set to be hosted in Russia.

Kasperczak was coach of Mali at this year’s flagship national team tournament, but was sacked following their failure to perform as well as expected.

He recently formed part of a five-man coaching shortlist released by the Cote D’Ivoire football officials who were in the process of deciding on a new manager to take on the responsibility of leading the Elephants.

The Polish coach was previously in charge of Cote D’Ivoire between 1993 and 1994, before joining Tunisia in his first stint, while he also spent time as Senegal coach.

The Pole is now obviously out of contention for the Ivorian position. Other coaches on the shortlist were Patrice Neveu, Michel Dussuyer, Paulo Duarte and Frederic Antonetti.