Osim to take Japan coaching job - reports

TOKYO, July 2 (Reuters) Former Yugoslavia coach Ivica Osim is set to take charge of the Japan national side after Brazilian coach Zico stepped down, media reports said today.

Osim reached an agreement with Japan Football Association (JFA) technical advisor Kozo Tashima in talks last night, the reports said.

''We wanted to finalise a contract as soon as possible after the World Cup,'' Tashima was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.

Reports have said that the JFA was talking to the 65-year-old Osim since before the World Cup began, but that his current club, JEF United Chiba, had been reluctant to lose him in the middle of the season.

Osim led Yugoslavia to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He became JEF manager in 2003 and helped the J-League first division side win the Japanese League Cup last year for their first title.

Brazilian Zico's four years as Japan coach ended in an early exit from the World Cup as Japan fell to Australia and Brazil and could only manage a scoreless draw with Croatia, leaving them at the bottom of their group.

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