On a dramatic final day of the J.League season,the Melbourne Victory legend secured his greatest managerial triumph – and it could put him on the radar of European clubs.
North Asia correspondent Eryk Bagshaw reports from outside the door of Tetsuya Yamagami,who assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8,2022.
Mitch Langerak has been Australia’s most in-form custodian at club level for the past few years,but says he has made peace with his decision to prematurely retire from international football.
The Socceroos’ hopes of a direct qualification into the 2022 World Cup have been dashed after losing to Japan in Stadium Australia.
The most important week for the Socceroos in this World Cup cycle has been,thus far,a disaster so unmitigated that it actually beggars belief - but the team is grabbing onto their last remaining flicker of hope ahead of Thursday night’s showdown with Japan.
Injuries,positive cases and other availability issues have left COVID-stricken coach Graham Arnold with the barest of squads for Australia’s most important World Cup qualifier in years on Thursday night against Japan.
The Socceroos need Bruno Fornaroli to rescue their World Cup qualifying campaign – and Football Australia admits it’s a poor reflection on the state of the game.
A win against Japan on Tuesday night will make it 12 qualifying victories in a row and put them in the box seat to reach next year’s World Cup in Qatar.
Goals from Awer Mabil,Martin Boyle and Mitch Duke continued the Socceroos’ red-hot form - while Japan lost for the second time in their past three matches.
Kevin Muscat will take over as the head coach of Japanese side Yokohama F Marinos,replacing compatriot Ange Postecoglou.
Mitch Langerak is retiring from international football in the prime of his career because of reservations about travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.