July 31 (Reuters) - Former ⁠Spain youth coach Santi Denia has been appointed ⁠as head coach of the Czech Republic national ‌team, the country's football association (FACR) announced on Friday.

The 52-year-old Spaniard becomes the first foreign manager to lead the Czech team and ​has signed a two-year contract with ⁠an option for an ⁠extension.

He replaces Miroslav Koubek, who stepped down after the ⁠2026 World ‌Cup where the team were knocked out in the group stage.

"It is an immense ⁠honour for me to be here," Denia ​said in a ‌statement. "Czech football has a great history and I ⁠am extremely ​motivated by this project. My only wish is to get to work as soon as possible."

Denia, who led ⁠Spain's Olympic team to gold at ​the 2024 Paris Games, will have his first matches in September with home Nations League fixtures against Croatia on ⁠the 26th and England three days later.

The team will also face world and European champions Spain during the campaign, setting up a meeting between Denia and ​his former colleague Luis de la ⁠Fuente.

"I was born in Spain and worked for the ​federation for 15 years but ‌now things are different — I want ​to win against Spain," Denia said.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon)