The coach still needs to be formally confirmed by the NZS board, which is to meet on Friday. His first match back at the helm of the Slovenian side is to be a friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Koper on 6 February.

NZS president Aleksander Čeferin spoke to Katanec (49) about returning to the post after Slaviša Stojanović had stepped down from the team's helm over a poor start of the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup with a lacklustre 1:3 record.

The next qualifying match will be a home game against Iceland on 22 March.

Expectations about Katanec are high after he took Slovenia to the UEFA Euro 2000 and 2002 FIFA World Cup and since he is considered the most successful of the six head coaches in the team's history.

After his success with the Slovenian team and a painful breakup in a messy disagreement with star player Zlatko Zahovič, Katanec has coached perennial Greek champion Olympiacos, the Macedonian national team (2006-2009) and the United Arab Emirates team (2009-2011), where Stojanović was initially his assistant.