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Pekerman remains in charge of Colombia for four years

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Coach Jose Pekerman, who steered Colombia to the World Cup quarter-finals last month, will stay on for the 2018 qualifiers and the next two Copa America tournaments, the Colombian federation (FCF) said on Tuesday.

The 64-year-old Argentine led an impressive Colombia side, which included the tournament’s top scorer James Rodriguez, to their first finals for 16 years in Brazil, where they were eliminated by the hosts in the last eight.

“After several weeks’ work regarding the new project for the 2014-2018 period, the Colombian Football Federation headed by president Luis Bedoya is proud to announce the continuity of professor Jose Nestor Pekerman for this cycle,” said a statement on the FCF website.

The FCF did not say when Pekerman, hugely popular with Colombia’s players and fans, would resume work with the team. Details of the new four-year contract were also not revealed.

The qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup finals to be hosted by Russia are expected to begin late next year after the 2015 Copa America in Chile.

Colombia will also take part in a Centenary Copa America in 2016 in the United States comprising the 10 CONMEBOL nations and six from the CONCACAF region.

Their next fixture is a friendly against Brazil in Miami on Sept. 5.


(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Rex Gowar, editing by Pritha Sarkar)