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European flavour to Asian Cup final

The Asian Cup final on Saturday will have a distinctly European flavour, with Germany’s Holger Osieck in charge of Australia and Italy’s Alberto Zaccheroni coaching Japan.

Both men were recruited after last year’s World Cup in South Africa and each has brought their own particular style and flair to the competition.

ALBERTO ZACCHERONI

The 57-year-old has overcome early pessimism among many Japanese about his lack of international experience by steering the Blue Samurai into the final for a crack at their fourth Asian Cup title.

Best known as a club coach in his native Italy, he saw Japan top their group before beating hosts Qatar 3-2 in the quarter-finals and then seeing off South Korea in a tense penalty shoot-out in the last four.

“I’ve been telling the Japanese national team that we have to play with bravery and balance. That’s the concept,” he said during the tournament.

“It doesn’t matter who you play against, we need to have the bravery to play the Japanese style of football.”

Japan’s FA spent months looking for a successor to Takeshi Okada and signed Zaccheroni last September on a two-year deal with an option of two more years, despite a lack of experience abroad and at international level.

He previously coached 13 Italian teams, including Serie A sides Lazio, Inter Milan and Juventus, but is without a trophy since piloting AC Milan to the 1999 Scudetto.

Zaccheroni was a player before taking up coaching, but his career was cut short by injury, which saw him move into the manager’s chair at the relatively young age of 30 with amateurs Cesenatico.

His career only took off during the 1997-98 season with Udinese, guiding them to third place in the league and qualification for the UEFA Cup.

While Asian Cup glory will be a welcome bonus, his key task is taking Japan further at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil than the round of 16 they reached in South Africa last year, which was their best ever finish on foreign soil.

HOLGER OSIECK

German veteran Osieck was the surprise choice to replace Dutchman Pim Verbeek after the South Africa World Cup, but he has proved his credentials with Australia’s run to their first ever major final.

They came into the tournament looking to put behind them a disappointing maiden foray at the event in 2007, when they fell in the quarter-finals when many expected them to win.

Osieck is renowned as a master tactician and he helped Australia top their group and then outlast defending champions Iraq in the last eight before their 6-0 drubbing of Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.

“It’s a result of our structure,” the 62-year-old said of their success so far.

“The entire team works well defensively. We are very compact and the defence starts with the strikers, they close the opponents down and we are very well-structured behind them.

“When the opposition dribble into midfield, they run into a wall. We win the ball and we play our game. It sounds simple but it took some time to get the structure together.”

While not a well-known international coach, Osieck brought plenty of Asian experience to the Australia job, having guided Japan’s Urawa Reds to the 2007 AFC Champions League title.

An assistant to Franz Beckenbauer when West Germany won the 1990 World Cup, he also coached Canada to the 2000 CONCACAF title and has had stints at Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps, Germany’s Bochum and Turkey’s Fenerbahce.

He is contracted to work until the end of the 2014 World Cup, with the Asian Cup his first real test.