Zdenek Zeman was always confident he would one day return to AS Roma.

The former Pescara coach was confirmed as new Roma boss yesterday.

"I am happy and thank the club for their faith in me," he said. "I knew that sooner or later I would've returned here, to my city. Hopefully we can collaborate and build something together.

"We will try to win and believe in our chances, but then again I've never seen a Coach who didn't. It's also true that I was quite close to re-joining Roma in 2006.

"I am convinced the Roma fans are always close to the team, both in good and bad times, so I hope it will be the same this year."