Former Japan national team midfielder Hajime Moriyasu will be appointed as the new coach for the soccer squad, it has been learned Monday.
Moriyasu, 49, will wear two hats as the national team coach and the coach for the under-23 national team who will play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
According to officials of Japan Football Association (JFA), Moriyasu has shown his intention to accept the offer after negotiations with JFA technical committee chief Takashi Sekizuka and others. The JFA's executive committee is expected to approve Moriyasu's appointment as the successor to current Japan coach Akira Nishino, who will retire at the end of this month. Moriyasu will thus become the first Japan coach to lead both the national team and the Olympic squad since Philippe Troussier, who led the Japanese squad at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Moriyasu, who was acclaimed as a defensive midfielder, served as the coach of the J-League team Sanfrecce Hiroshima, leading his team to the J-League champion three times. In autumn last year he was appointed the coach for the under-23 Japan squad, whose goal is to play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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