SANTIAGO - Former Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa returned from nearly three years on the sidelines when he was put in charge of Chile's troubled national team on Friday.

The famously introverted, enigmatic coach known as El Loco (The Madman) was given the challenge of trying to take Chile, riddled by disciplinary problems, to their first World Cup since 1998 in three year's time.

"We've decided that Marcela Bielsa will be the coach of our team during the qualifiers for the World Cup in South Africa," said Harold Mayne-Nicholls, president of the Chilean Football Association (ANFP).

Bielsa's first competitive match in charge will be against his own country when Chile kick off the South American World Cup qualifiers on October 13 or 14 in Buenos Aires.

He had been out of the game since surprisingly resigning as Argentina coach in September 2004, midway through the qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup.

Bielsa has rarely been seen in public since, having largely confined himself to his farm on the outskirts of Rosario, north of Buenos Aires.

He takes over from Nelson Acosta, who resigned days after Chile were thrashed 6-1 by Brazil in their Copa America quarter-final in Venezuela last month.