The Bulgarian soccer federation has appointed Luboslav Penev as national team coach to replace Lothar Matthaeus who was sacked earlier.

Matthaeus was sacked in September after failing to bring Bulgaria into the European Cup finals in 2012. Matthaeus was considered to have ‘broke the promise’ he made when signing a contract a year ago.

“Penev know the players very well, and I think he is the best choice of a number of coaches we nominated,” said BFU president Borislav Mihailov.

“Penev signed a contract of two years, and two-year contract extension options.”

The 45-year-old coach will lead Bulgaria to face the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Bulgaria are in Group B with Italy, Denmark, Czech Rep., Armenia and Malta.