French coach offered N.Korea job: report

Former Japan coach Philippe Troussier has been offered a job to guide North Korea at next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa, a press report said Thursday.

The Frenchman, who led Japan to the last 16 in the 2002 World Cup on home turf, said he will take a positive attitude toward the offer but that “everything is unofficial”, the Nikkan Sports daily reported.

“They (the North Koreans) made contact with me. But I cannot comment on it because nothing has been completed yet,” Troussier was quoted as saying.

Troussier, now the general manager of Japan’s third division side FC Ryukyu, had been scheduled to go to North Korea last Monday. But his visit has been delayed because of his visa being processed late, according to the daily.

“I’m open to challenges made by Asian countries,” he said.

“Besides, I have experience in Asia. I can bring that experience to the team. It will be a wonderful adventure if I can join the 2010 World Cup as a coach.”

North Korea, the quarter-finalists in the 1966 World Cup in England, booked a place in the finals for the first time in 44 years under the wing of current coach Kim Jong-Hun.

But they were drawn with powerhouses Brazil, Portugal and the Ivory Coast in the group stage.

Troussier was once nicknamed “White Witch Doctor” for his success with African teams, leading underdogs Burkina Faso to the semi-finals at the 1998 African Cup soon after he was appointed.