The All India Football Federation has appointed former Netherlands international Wilhelmus Jacobus Koevermans, popularly known as Wim Koevermans, as the new head coach of the Indian national team.

Koevermans has been officialy presented by AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das during a press conference at the AIFF Headquarters, the Football House, today. The new coach has signed a two-year contract and is scheduled to start his tenure with the Indian team on July 1.

“It’s an honour to be here in India,” Koevermans said in his first official press conference in India. “I’m looking forward to meeting the boys. I have travelled in many countries and have been fortunate to have played with some greats and also coached by some legendary coaches.”

“I’ve watched some videos of the Indian team’s recent matches. I will travel to Muscat along with Technical Director Rob Baan to watch India’s matches in the forthcoming AFC U22 Championship,” he informed.

“We didn’t want to hurry into selecting the new coach. We look forward to working with Wim. The AIFF will be extending its support to him in every possible direction,” said Kushal Das.

The 51-year-old Dutchman has coached Dutch clubs FC Groningen, RBC Roosendaal, NEC Nijmegen and MVV Maastricht, besides being in charge of the Netherlands junior national teams and the U21 national team of the Republic of Ireland. Koevermans has been the High Performance Director of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) till his appointment by the All India Football Federation.

The Dutchman will take over the reins at the helm of the Indian national team from Savio Medeira, who was in charge of the Indian team since November 2011.

The Indian national team will have its first international assignment under Wim Koevermans at the Nehru Cup 2012, which will kick-off on August 23.