Saitama: Tsuyoshi Otsuki will leave Urawa Red Diamonds a year after leading the club to the final of the 2019 AFC Champions League, with the J.League outfit on Tuesday naming Spaniard Ricardo Rodriquez as their head coach for next season.
Otsuki’s side lost out to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC in the Continental championship’s decider last November but the 48-year-old will stand down from his position after a disappointing 10th place finish in the 2020 J1 League standings.
Rodriguez will take over at the helm for next season having led Tokushima Vortis to the top of the standings in Japan’s second division, earning promotion to J1 for 2021.
“I’m happy to be able to work at this great club,” said Rodriguez. “We’ll aim to play aggressive attacking football and fight vigorously in defence too. We’ll give our all to amass wins and reach the top.”
Urawa won the club’s only J1 League title in 2006 before claiming the first of two AFC Champions League crowns a year later at the helm. Reds added a second Continental title to their resume in 2017 before finishing runners-up last year.