JFA Hall of Fame Inductee

Ivica OSIM

Special Selection: 18th Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2022

Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 6 May 1941

From the first year that OSIM took over as coach of JEF United Ichihara in the J.League First Division in 2003, he turned the team (which had previously been also-rans) into a powerhouse side that vied for the championship title. In 2005, the team won the J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup. His leadership capabilities were highly regarded and he became coach of the Japan National Team in July 2006. Due to illness, his time in this role was limited to a year and a half; however, OSIM’s footballing philosophy, coaching concepts and coaching methods provided a major stimulus to the Japanese game. OSIM can be seen as a coach who had a substantial influence on Japanese football at the dawn of the 21st century. In particular, the policy for nurturing players and strengthening teams developed by the JFA (known as the “Japanese Way”) had its inception in the concept of “Japanizing Japanese soccer” which OSIM outlined in 2006 when he took over as national team coach.　

Commenting that “as long as the thinking that Japan needs to catch up with the rest of the world prevails, then that just won’t happen”, OSIM viewed the special characteristics of Japanese people and players (which had tended to be regarded negatively) as in fact being positives. OSIM encouraged the Japanese football world (hitherto an imitator of leading football powers in Europe and South America), and declared that “although you don’t realize it, there are a lot of wonderful things in Japanese football”. The theme of “aiming for a type of football that harnesses respect for the positive qualities of Japanese people”, which was developed in accordance with OSIM’s thinking, still serves as a road map for Japanese football as it evolves.

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