The Japan Football Association has embarked upon the selection process for a successor to national team coach Takeshi Okada.
Among candidates listed so far by the JFA are Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, 54, who led Chile to the second round of the ongoing World Cup, and former Argentina coach Jose Pekerman, 60.
"As the most important point, we'll see how each candidate could strengthen our national team," JFA technical director Hiromi Hara said. "We'd like to make a decision by taking account of not only experience but personality and passion for Japan."
The first mission for the new coach will be to win the Asian Cup in January 2011 in Qatar.