TOKYO: Japan named Olympic coach Hajime Moriyasu as their new national football boss on Thursday.

The 49-year-old replaces Akira Nishino, who led the Blue Samurai to the last 16 of the World Cup in Russia in his two-month spell as caretaker coach.

Former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann had been linked to the job, along with ex-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but the Japan Football Association (JFA) went for a trusted insider.

Moriyasu, who will also maintain his current assignment as the coach for Japan’s under-21 team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pledged to bring new blood to the top national side.

“There will be generational changes. There will be integration of various generations of players,” he told a press conference.

Moriyasu was drafted in as an assistant to Nishino ahead of the World Cup after JFA chief Kozo Tashima abruptly fired Franco-Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodzic in April following a poor run of form.

Japan went on to reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time since 2010.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018