The Japan Football Association on Thursday officially named Mexican Javier Aguirre as Japan's new national team manager.
Aguirre, who has twice led Mexico at the World Cup and has managed several club teams in Spain and his native country, succeeds Alberto Zaccheroni after the Italian stepped down following Japan's first-round exit at the World Cup in Brazil last month.
The 55-year-old Aguirre, who JFA technical director Hiromi Hara described as "a gentleman," is scheduled to arrive in Japan around the middle of next month and will take charge of Japan's friendlies against Uruguay in Sapporo on Sep. 5 and Venezuela in Yokohama four days later.