Soccer: Zaccheroni to coach Japan+

TOKYO, Aug. 30 Kyodo -
Former Juventus and AC Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has been named to manage
the Japan national team, the first Italian to accept the job.
The Japan Football Association announced Monday that it has reached an
agreement with the 57-year-old Zaccheroni, who will be the sixth foreign
manager of the national side.
A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday to unveil the new coach, who
won the 1998-99 Serie A title with Milan.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported in Monday's edition that Zaccheroni
has agreed to a two-year contract worth $2.36 million with a two-year option.
Zaccheroni, who has not coached outside Italy, will not be in the dugout for
Saturday's friendly against Paraguay in Yokohama and the Guatemala game three
days later in Osaka due to visa issues.
JFA technical director Hiromi Hara, who has handled the negotiations with
Zaccheroni, has already been named acting coach for the two matches, with
ex-Kawasaki Frontale manager Takashi Sekizuka as assistant.
Zaccheroni's first competitive test will be the Asian Cup in Qatar in January.
Japan have a couple more friendlies against Argentina and South Korea scheduled
in October, but there are no games fixed for the remainder of the year.
Zaccheroni follows in the footsteps of Takeshi Okada, who led Japan to the
second round at the World Cup in South Africa this summer.
He began his coaching career at the age of 30 and took over Juventus midway
through last season, but the Turin side finished the campaign in seventh.
Zaccheroni's appointment ends a search that lasted for more than a month by
Hara, who tried to sign ex-Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini and Olympiakos
boss Ernesto Valverde, but was rejected by both.
==Kyodo
2010-08-30 23:13:21