(Reuters) – New Zealand women’s soccer coach Tom Sermanni will step down after the Tokyo Olympics, the country’s governing body (NZF) said on Thursday.
The 66-year-old joined New Zealand’s ‘Football Ferns’ in October 2018 and led them at the 2019 World Cup where they crashed out in the group stage.
“I have very much enjoyed my time with the team but appreciate New Zealand Football’s need to go to market to find a head coach for the long term,” Sermanni said in a statement https://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/104485?newsfeedId=1275622.
“We now go to Tokyo 100% focused on performing to our absolute best as we test ourselves against some of the top sides in the world.”
New Zealand are set to face world champions United States, neighbours Australia and Sweden in Group G at the Tokyo Games.
NZF said it will begin the process of finding Sermanni’s successor to develop the team ahead of the 2023 World Cup, which New Zealand will co-host with Australia.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
