Kostas Tsanas had been in interim charge since November last year following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri but Markarian will now guide Greece through the remainder of their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

The Uruguayan, who was recommended to the EPO by former Greece international Giorgos Karagounis, will see his contract automatically extended to July 2016 should the team qualify for the tournament.

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The 70-year-old will face an uphill challenge to get his country to France next summer, though, with the Greeks bottom of their qualifying group having taken just a single point from four games.

"Being given the responsibility of coaching the Greece national team is a great honour for me," Markarian told www.epo.gr. "I would like to thank the federation for choosing me.

"We have a tough task ahead, but I believe in my ability and in the potential of Greek football. We will all do our best to achieve our aims, starting with our upcoming encounter in Hungary."

The veteran coach has had two spells in charge of Paraguay and was most recently manager of Peru while he has also had three previous spells in Greece managing Ionikos, Panathanaikos and Iraklis.

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