Mon, May 16, 2016 page20

• Taiwan soccer headed back to Japanese school

  • By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
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  With the national team facing an AFC Asian Cup qualifier next month, the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) has appointed Toshiaki Imai as the team’s head coach, the Japanese manager’s second go at the job.

  Officials also confirmed Imai is to control the squad for next year’s Universiade in Taipei, with the association announcing the men’s squad on Thursday.

  The coaching position became vacant when Chen Kuei-jen quit on April 5.

  

  Toshiaki Imai, who was appointed Taiwan head coach, shows off a personalized team shirt at a press event in Taipei on May 3.

  Photo: Cho Chia-ping, Taipei Times

  Chen said he resigned to take responsibility for the squad’s “shortcomings” in international qualifying games and suggested that a foreign coach take over to lead the team to a higher level.

  Imai’s return first stint as team coach was from 2005 to 2007, when he was also boss of the women’s national team in their bid to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

  They advanced past the first round, but fell in the second.

  “It’s a great honor to be back after being away for nine years,” Imai said at a news conference last week on the AFC Asian Cup second-round game against Cambodia in Kaohsiung on June 2.

  The away leg is to be played in Phnom Penh on June 7.

  Since departing Taiwan, Imai said he headed the soccer program at Waseda University and bolstered his international experience with coaching stints in the Philippines, Mongolia and Sudan.

  “I will pick players who have the skills, but also must have the right attitude and quick decisionmaking ability, otherwise they cannot operate properly in a game situation,” he said. “Most important is attitude. Even if a player has good skills, I will not pick him if he has the wrong attitude.”

  Imai said he hopes to bring new ideas and modern elements to Taiwanese soccer, “but there is always some lag between ideals and reality, so I ask people to give me time to make it work.”

  CTFA officials said during the selection process for the post that they received many applications from outstanding foreign coaches, with some who came with recommendations from other national associations, while other excellent candidates also applied.

  The final decision was made based on Imai’s familiarity with Taiwan’s soccer environment, the long-term support of the Japanese Football Federation (JFA) and because, despite being away for nearly a decade, Imai had maintained his motivation and passion to lead Taiwan’s national squad, the officials said.

  Sports pundits said the appointment was not too much of a surprise, given the many connections between the two nation’s sporting bodies.

  With many years of JFA support and collaboration, a “Japanese school” has formed in Taiwan’s soccer community, with members backing Imai and lobbying for his return, pundits said.

  Among the key men was Kazuo Kuroda, a Japanese coach with 45 years of experience.

  Kuroda has been in Taiwan since 2012, heading the national youth program as part of a collaboration between the CTFA and the JFA.

  The CTFA appointed Kuroda as top adviser to the national squad, saying that he would be expected to keep open channels to Japanese soccer personnel, and provide resources to develop the game in Taiwan.
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