On May 15, the Estonian Football Association (EJL) announced that Jürgen Henn would be taking over as the new men's national team head coach. Henn takes over the role after a trophy-filled spell with Flora Tallinn, during which he guided the side to four Meistriliiga titles.

Current national team head coach Thomas Häberli will take charge of the side for the last time in the friendly game away against Switzerland on June 4. A day later, Häberli will hand over the reins to Henn.

Henn, who turns 37 on June 2, said his aim is to rejuvenate the squad. "First of all, as a very good starting point, there are some very good young players, who are on one side on the verge of breaking through. Many of them already have a lot of responsibility in the national team. That's positive," Henn said.

"Obviously in terms of the results that we've been seeing lately, it's not been very encouraging, but after a short time with this collective, this group of players, we can take some pretty good steps forward with them. Steps toward building a team that at some point can do well," he added.

The coach, said improving the squad will require some patience, but by the third year results should start to be more positive. "It will take a little bit [of time]. If we want to involve more youngsters, then, particularly at the beginning we will have to make some compromises in terms of the selection of players in order to give those youngsters opportunities at certain moments. As you can see, in top- level football, it usually takes at least a year for sure. One or two years, and then in the third year, the results usually arrive," Henn said.

Aivar Pohlak, president of the Estonian Football Association, said Henn could set the target of qualifying for 2028 European Championship finals. Henn agreed. "I don't see that if you set ambitious plans, they have to be completely out of the realm of what is possible, or if they don't materialize in the end, then you're a failure. Instead, I think our plans ought to be bold and ambitious," Henn said.

"I understand that looking at the current situation, that seems far-fetched or hopeless, but reaching the finals could still be in our sights. I think it could, and should, be our dream," he added.

The Estonian men's national football team play Switzerland in a friendly on June 4. Henn's first game as head coach is four days later when Estonia take on the Faroe Islands in the semi-finals of the Baltic Cup at the A Le. Coq Arena in Tallinn.

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