The veteran coach revealed that he accepted an offer for the vacant position at the helm of the Elephants, but dismissed suggestions of a role as the Italian FA president

Giovanni Trapattoni has announced that he is set to take the reins as the new coach of Cote d’Ivoire, nine months after his departure from Republic of Ireland.

The Elephants endured a disappointing World Cup, losing a dramatic game to Greece to crash out of the group stages, which prompted previous coach Sabri Lamouchi to resign from his position.

The highly-decorated Italian coach has since revealed that he turned down Morocco to take over the Cote d'Ivoire post and sang the praises of leading scorer Didier Drogba.

"I'm going to become the new Ivory Coast coach, everything will be official in a couple of weeks," Trapattoni told Rai Radio 2.

"Morocco offered me a job too, but I took 48 hours for myself and eventually chose Ivory Coast. Drogba? He's a great player."

Trapattoni also ruled himself out of assuming the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), claiming that he was not prepared to merit such a high-profile role.

"I don't think [it] would be a good idea, it's a very important job and I didn't study enough to deserve it," he said.

Trapattoni, who has served as boss of AC Milan, Juventus, Inter and Bayern Munich in a stellar career, is one of only four coaches to win league titles in four different countries.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/84/africa/2014/06/30/4927057/trapattoni-set-for-cote-divoire-job?ICID=HP_BN_5