Moldova coach, Ion Caras, has targeted a place at Euro 2016 after agreeing a two-year contract extension with the national team.
Friendlies have also been arranged for next month with Moldova scheduled to play Norway on 15th January and Poland five days later with both matches set to take place in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Moldova met Poland in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, drawing one game and losing the other, while they have failed to win any of their four previous matches against Norway.
Moldova are also set to play a friendly against Andorra on 5th March.
Caras said after penning the new deal: “We will make every effort to qualify for Euro 2016. It would be an extraordinary result for the national team of Moldova.”
Caras is in his second spell in charge of the national team, having been appointed in February 2012. He was previously in charge of Moldova between 1992 and 1997.
The 63-year-old former FC Zimbru Chisinau and FC Politehnika Chisinau coach has lifted Moldova’s fortunes of late and helped the team secure possibly the best result in their history in October when they defied the football betting odds to beat Montenegro 5-2.
Caras had enthused after that match: “I think Montenegro under-estimated us. I don’t think they knew we were capable of playing in such a manner.
“We produced a major surprise. My players played very well. Maybe they played the game of their lives. They certainly produced the greatest performance in the history of the Moldovan national team. It’s hard to explain how happy we were at the end of the match.”
According to the live football commentary on bet365.com, the result helped Moldova climb 33 places in FIFA’s world rankings in October to 96th, the first time they had been in the top 100 since August 2011.