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New Japan coach Nielsen targets Women's World Cup glory / Photo: © AFP
New Japan coach Nielsen targets Women's World Cup glory
New coach Nils Nielsen declared Wednesday that Japan can win the Women's World Cup for a second time and vowed to restore the 2011 champions to their former glories.
The 53-year-old Dane becomes Japan's first foreign-born women's coach and succeeds Futoshi Ikeda, who left at the end of his contract in August.
Nielsen led Denmark to the 2017 European Championship final and takes over a Japan team that has not reached a World Cup or Olympic semi-final since 2015.
He said he was inspired by Japan's 2011 World Cup win and sees no reason why they cannot repeat the achievement under his leadership.
"We want to get Japan back on top and there are many teams that want to go there, but the talent pool in Japan actually makes it possible," he told reporters in Tokyo.
"We will do the hard work and dedication, all of us will do everything we can to get it done."
The Greenland-born Nielsen previously served as Manchester City's women's team technical director after spells in charge of the Denmark and Switzerland national teams.
He said Japan will "always be contenders for titles" and pledged to help them become more than just dangerous dark horses.
Japan lost in the quarter-finals of both last year's World Cup and this summer's Paris Olympics.
"In order to actually get there and lift the trophies -- and make no mistake about it, that is why I'm here -- we will do everything we can to be successful and win trophies for Japan," he said.
"It needs to be a team effort. It's not about one person, it's not about me, but I will lead the process."
Nielsen joked that there were more reporters at his first press conference in Tokyo than the entire population of his tiny home village in frozen Greenland.
He said he jumped at the chance to coach Japan after watching them become the first Asian team to lift the Women's World Cup in 2011.
"I think managing to create a playing style and a culture around the team that actually fits perfectly with the personalities of the Japanese women, it must have been very difficult to do, but that was what happened," he said.
"It was not only me but all across the world it was something everybody noticed and got inspired from."
H.Reyes--SFF
