Belgrade, Dec 30 (IANS): Former star Mladen Krstajic has been appointed Serbia's new football team coach on a long-term basis after taking the helm as interim manager.

The Serbian football federation's sporting director Goran Bunjevcevic was on Friday said that the decision was made by the technical committee of the federation, according to the state-run Tanjug news agency.

Bunjevcevic added that Krstajic, who played 59 times for Serbia, was expected to be presented officially during the second half of January, adding that details of the contract were expected to be revealed by then, reports Efe.

The new coaching appointment was pending the approval of the executive committee and the federation's president, Blic newspaper reported on its website.

Krstajic, 43, took the helm as interim coach on October 30, succeeding fired Slavoljub Muslin, who had led the team to the World Cup for the first time since 2010.

Under the former Schalke and Werder Bremen defender Krstajic, the Serbian team won 2-0 against China and drew 1-1 with South Korea.