The appointment of the former England boss was announced by the Mexican Football Federation (Femexfut) president Justino Compean on Tuesday.

The Committee of the owners of the 18 top-flight teams unanimously approved the 60-year-old Swede as the successor to Hugo Sanchez, who was sacked in March for failing to guide the Under-23 side to the Olympics.

Eriksson has come in for criticism from some quarters for what they see as his lack of knowledge of Mexican players, but such talk does not bother the new boss.

He said: "I don't mind. I know a lot of Mexican players in Europe. I coached Nery Castillo at Manchester City for some months and I already have some tapes.

"This is something all coaches must work on when they arrive in a country."

Eriksson left Premier League side Manchester City earlier this week despite still having three years to run on his contract.

And the Swede's appointment as Mexico coach has also not been welcomed with open arms by certain members of the team.

Carlos Salcido has claimed he does not think a coach who cannot speak fluent Spanish should take over in the middle of a World Cup qualifying campaign.

Andres Guardado feels interim boss Jesus Ramirez - who has taken charge of the side since the dismissal of Sanchez - should stay at least as Eriksson's assistant as he knows the squad.

But Eriksson insisted he was ready to prove his critics wrong.

"I like big challenges so is up to me to convince the supporters and the players that I am the right man," he said.

"I truly like big challenges. Mexico is a big challenge and that's why I am here."

The incoming coach admitted his main task will be to try to get the most out of the Mexican squad, but insisted he did not think there was a problem with their attitude.

"I will try to make a very strong team. That's my policy," he said. "My job in Mexico will be to improve the job the players have been doing and not to change their mentality."

He added: "I don't want to form 23 Swedish mentalities."

Eriksson told a media conference at his unveiling he was excited by the challenge of helping Mexico reach the World Cup in South Africa.

Speaking in Spanish, he said: "Mexico is a big, big job. To help Mexico reach the World Cup (in 2010) is a big challenge. You (Mexicans) have 120 million people and it's motivating."

Eriksson will not officially take up his post until June 21, when Mexico host Belize in Monterrey in the second leg of the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

Until then Ramirez will remain in temporary charge for the matches against Argentina on June 4, Peru on June 8 and the first leg with Belize in Houston on June 15.

Compean did reveal though that Eriksson would live in Mexico.

Eriksson, who arrived at the Femexfut head offices at 10am local time on Tuesday, although the meeting with the organisation did not start until around noon, refused to talk about possible selections as long as Ramirez remained in temporary charge.

He said: "I don't want to talk too much about players as I don't think it is professional. There is another coach still working."

Femexfut secretary general Decio de Maria added: "The rest of the technical staff will be Mexican and they will be announced in the upcoming three or four weeks."

Eriksson became the first foreign coach to manage England when he took over from Kevin Keegan in 2001 and guided the team to two successive World Cup quarter-final appearances before leaving after the 2006 tournament in Germany.