Nagoya finished in fifth place in the just-completed J1 campaign to miss out on next season’s AFC Champions League, although Ficcadenti led the team to success in the J-League Cup.

 

The club announced on social media on Thursday that the 54-year-old Italian (pictured below) would not be retained for next season following the expiration of his contract and that Hasegawa would take over.

The 56-year-old previously led Gamba Osaka to the domestic treble in 2014 when he guided the club to the J1 League title as well as the Emperor’s Cup and the J-League Cup in their first season after gaining promotion back into the top flight of Japanese football.

 

He left Gamba at the end of the 2017 and took over as FC Tokyo coach the following season, but resigned in November following an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Yokohama F Marinos in the league.