Landmark victory for Aussie football guru
FORMER Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou made history over the weekend when he steered Yokohama F Marinos to the J1 League crown, a 3-0 win against second-placed FC Tokyo sealing an incredible season in Japan’s top tier, but how long until he pops up in a premier European league?
He is the first Australian to win a men’s domestic title overseas, and the mastermind has already signed an extension with the club and is committed to steering his team to an Asian Champions League title next year.
Winning the J-League is hard enough, but it was the manner in which he steered the club from the bottom of the competition, where they faced (and escaped) relegation, to champions in two years which attracted the most attention.
Some have described the championship as his greatest feat. Postecoglou has an impressive resume when it comes to managing football teams, starting at South Melbourne in the National Soccer League in 1996.
He’s won multiple premierships and championships over the past two decades, taking South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, and now Yokohama, to the promised land. He enjoyed success with Australia’s under-age teams, and steered the Socceroos to an Asian Cup triumph on home soil in 2015 and the World Cup in 2014.
The 54-year-old is untested overseas, save for a short stint in Greece and his current stay in Japan, but with every post, Postecoglou grows his resume, and surely his chances, of one day landing in Europe.