Tokyo: The Japan Football Association (JFA) is in talks with former Yugoslavia coach Ivica Osim over taking charge of the national side after Brazilian coach Zico stepped down, reports said on Saturday.

President Saburo Kawabuchi said the JFA had been talking to the 65-year-old Osim, currently coaching Japan side JEF United Chiba, since before the World Cup, the reports said.

Osim led Yugoslavia to the quarter finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. He became JEF manager in 2003 and helped the J-League first division side lift the Japanese League Cup last year for their first ever title. “We want to sign a formal contract as soon as he accepts our offer,” a newspaper quoted Kawabuchi as saying. (Reuters)