Apr 10 (NHK) - Japan's national soccer team coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, is being let go.
Japan Football Association President Kozo Tashima reportedly notified the 65-year-old Halilhodzic of the decision.
The association will announce his successor at a news conference on Monday afternoon.
Halilhodzic is from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He took up the post in Japan in 2015 after leading Algeria's team to the last 16 in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Japan will take part in the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a record of 6 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws in the final Asian qualifying round.
But as the event draws near, Japan's performance in warm-up matches has been lackluster.
Some team members had voiced frustration over Halilhodzic's leadership and are said to have disagreed with him on how matches should be played.
He is known to be very demanding, setting an upper limit for players' body fat ratios and conducting long meetings, analyzing plays on video.
