Who is the new coach of Thailand national team?

Akira Nishino was born in 1955 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He started his career at Wasebe University, then was recruited by Hitachi Club (the predecessor of Kashiwa Reysol). Here, Nishino spent 12 years playing for Kodaira, Tokyo and was elected to the J.League's best team in the 1986 season.

Possess an impressive track record

Akira Nishino retired from playing in 1990 at the age of 35, he moved on to coach the U-20 and then the U-23 Japan before returning to his former club Kashiwa Reysol. However, the peak of his career was his 10 years working with Gamba Osaka. In 2005, he led Gamba Osaka to the J-League 1 Championship and the following 3 years were the peak with the 2007/2008 AFC Champions League Championship. This achievement helped Nishino be voted the best coach of 2008 by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

He then briefly managed Vissel Kobe and Nagoya Grampus (the club where Arsene Wenger worked before joining Arsenal). The turning point for Akira Nishino came when the Japan Football Association (JFA) decided to fire head coach Vahid Halilhodzic just 2 months before the World Cup.

Coach Akira Nishino helped Japan qualify for the World Cup for the second time. Photo: Getty

Nishino then bravely agreed to sit in the hot seat of the Japanese national team. After only 2 months of working, he helped the "Blue Samurai" create a buzz at the world's biggest football festival. The Japanese team qualified for the World Cup for the second time in history, even almost eliminating the Belgian team in the round of 16 (leading by 2 goals).

Fate with Thai football

After the 2018 World Cup ended, coach Akira Nishino refused to renew his contract with the Japan Football Federation despite being offered a generous salary of nearly 42 billion VND/year. Since then, he has not accepted to lead any team despite receiving many offers with extremely generous salaries.

Also in the past year, Thailand had to say goodbye to the expectations of the national team's head coach twice. The first was coach Rajevac after Thailand's defeat to China in the 1/8 round of the 2019 Asian Cup. Immediately after that, his successor Sirisak Yodyardthai only had 6 months in office and had to "go out" after Thailand's defeat at home in the King's Cup.

FAT and Akira Nishino have found common ground. Photo: FAT

After a period of time when it seemed impossible to find a common voice because of the unrealistic goals set by the Thai Football Federation, as well as the salary of Mr. Akira Nishino that was far beyond the ability of FAT to handle. Finally, the Japanese coach also brought the dreamy minds of the Thai people back to reality with goals that were more suitable for their abilities and FAT also convinced Mr. Akira Nishino to accept a salary within the payment range (about 15 billion VND/year) so that the two could sit down together to sign an official contract.

Coach Akira Nishino's salary as the head coach of both the Thai national team and U23 has not been announced. He will hold a separate press conference, the time has not been officially decided.