Ange confirms move to Japan
EUROPE was calling but outgoing Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou’s next coaching job will be in Japan.
The Asian Cup winner has accepted the job in charge of City Football Group (CFG)aligned J-League club Yokohama F Marinos and will take up the reins in the new year.
“I am excited to be moving to Japan and returning to club football,” Postecoglou said.
“Coaching YFM will be a great challenge and I am very much looking forward to working with the club’s players, and young players in particular, to achieve success.”
The deal fulfils Postecoglou’s ambitions to return to club soccer, having successfully steered the Socceroos to next year’s World Cup.
The 52-year-old announced his departure as national team coach four weeks ago after becoming the first Australian to oversee a successful qualification for the tournament.
Instead of preparing the Socceroos for their campaign in Russia, he will be organising a move to Tokyo for the JLeague season beginning in late February.
Even while contracted as national team coach, Postecoglou made no secret of his desires to return to club soccer at the end of his FFA contract.
He had hoped that would be in Europe but CFG’s ambitious plans in Japan and links to flagship club Manchester City have persuaded Postecoglou to defer his plans to return to the continent.
The trailblazing coach was previously linked to cashed-up Shanghai Shenhua of the dubi- ous-quality Chinese Super League. There are no such qualms of the competition across the East China Sea in the J-League, seen as the best national league in Asia.
Yokohama is a faded powerhouse of the competition, with five top-flight titles, the last coming in 2004.
Club president Koichiro Furukawa said Postecoglou’s “attractive and entertaining style of football” and commitment to youth talent won him the job. “At the Marinos, we are committed to developing players and Ange has a very strong record in doing this. We are confident that he is the perfect choice to take us forward,” Furukawa said.
The job will be Postecoglou’s second stint overseas after coaching Panachaiki, a Greek third-division club, a decade ago.
He will be the first Australian to coach in the J-League since Graham Arnold – the man most likely to replace him as Socceroos coach – had an ill-fated spell in charge of Vegalta Sendai ending in April, 2014.