SINGAPORE: Takayuki Nishigaya has been sacked as head coach of the Singapore men’s national football team, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced on Monday (Jan 29).
The decision came on the back of a string of dismal results, the most recent being losses to Thailand and South Korea that have left the Lions at the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group
FAS said the recent performance and results of the national team were “below expectations”, and that an “early transition to a fresh successor would re-energise the team and allow a longer runway for the national team to prepare for important matches in the next few months and the year-end AFF tournament”.
The timing of the sacking, less than two years after he was appointed head coach, was reached after “careful consideration”, FAS said.
A former J-League player who made 100 J-League appearances, Nishigaya started his coaching journey in 2004 as a youth coach in Tokyo Verdy. He became youth head coach before leaving in 2009.
He went on to become assistant coach at Albirex Niigata (2012) and Mito Hollyhock (2013-2015) before being promoted to head coach at the latter. Nishigaya was also head coach of SC Sagamihara before moving on to Matsumoto Yamaga, where he was under-18 head coach, before becoming first-team assistant in 2020.
“The FAS would like to place on record its gratitude and thank Nishigaya for his work in Singapore and wish him every success in his future endeavours,” the governing body said.
FAS said a successor would be announced soon.
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