Osim, Ex-Japan Soccer Coach, Dies at 80

Tokyo, May 1 (Jiji Press)--Ivica Osim, former head coach of Japan's national soccer team, died in the Austrian city of Graz on Sunday morning. He was 80.

Osim was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, currently the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1941. He participated in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games as a member of Yugoslavia's national soccer team.

He became head coach of Yugoslavia's national team in 1986, leading the team to last eight in the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

Osim came to Japan in 2003 to become coach of the soccer club now called JEF United Ichihara Chiba. Under his leadership, the team won its first J.League title in 2005.

He was known for witty remarks on his philosophy about soccer.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]