Soccer-Croatia name Cacic as new coach

ZAGREB, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Croatia have named Ante Cacic as their new coach in the wake of the sacking of Niko Kovac earlier this month. "Cacic has been signed unanimously on a three-year contract after extensive deliberations within the Croatian Football Association's (HNS) executive board," the body's president Davor Suker told a news conference on Monday. "We are confident that we have a appointed a coach who will take Croatia to the European Championship finals." With two Euro 2016 qualifiers left in October, Croatia's hopes of qualifying automatically for the finals are still in the balance and the experienced 61-year-old Cacic, who won the league and cup double with Dinamo Zagreb in 2012, is seen as the man to revive their flagging qualification campaign. Kovac was fired after Croatia drew 0-0 at Azerbaijan and then suffered a 2-0 defeat by Norway. In addition, Croatia had a point deducted from their tally after European soccer's governing body UEFA punished them for a racist incident in a 1-1 home draw against Italy in June. Croatia fans used a chemical agent to imprint a swastika on the pitch of Split's Poljud Stadium and it became visible during the match. They are third in Group H with 14 points from eight games, four behind leaders Italy and two adrift of second-placed Norway. They host Bulgaria on Oct. 10 before visiting Malta in their final match three days later. The top two from each of the nine groups and the best third-placed team will qualify automatically for next year's tournament along with hosts France. The other eight third-placed teams will enter a two-legged playoff for the remaining four berths. (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade; Editing by Martyn Herman)