Former Fulham captain and manager Chris Coleman has agreed to become the new Wales manager.
The former Dragons defender's three-year deal will be confirmed later this month. And his first match in charge will be the memorial match for ex-boss Gary Speed against Costa Rica on February 29.
A close pal of Coleman, said: "The deal's done and Chris cannot wait to get started - it's a great honour for him. He's very proud to have been chosen."
Coleman, 41, was a close friend of Speed, whose sudden death in November stunned the football world.
And he knows he faces a tough challenge to maintain the side's impressive recent run of results.
Wales have notched notable wins over Norway, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Montenegro since September and rocketed up the FIFA world rankings from No 117 to 48 in just four months.
Swansea-born Coleman is aiming to maintain that and is busy finalising his backroom staff after recently resigning from Greek side Larissa.
He won 32 caps for his country and has previously managed Fulham, Real Sociedad and Coventry.
In his first season with the Sky Blues, he led them to the quarter-finals of the 2009 FA Cup, but they lost 2-0 to Chelsea.
A year earlier he was accused of claiming he had no interest in the international success of Wales - an accusation he fiercely denied.
He revealed then: "I've played for Wales and I preferred playing for my country than any club I've played for.
"I can promise you that I love Wales, I'm very patriotic and that will never change."