Gamba Osaka have agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2009 season with manager Akira Nishino, the newly crowned Nabisco Cup champions said Tuesday. In his seventh season with Gamba in 2008, Nishino will become the longest-serving manager of one team in J. League history, passing Brazilian Toninho Cerezo, who coached Kashima Antlers from 2000-05. Nishino led Gamba to their first league title in 2005 and their first Nabisco Cup crown on Saturday.
