Ihara chooses to join Japanese champions

Japanese veteran Masami Ihara has accepted an offer to join Jubilo Iwata.

The defender has decided to leave Yokohama F Marinos after ten years and turned down an offer to coach the Yokohama team to seek a new challenge with the Iwata club.

Ihara has won 132 caps for the Japanese national team and was the 1995 Asian Player of the Year. Speculation over his future has dominated the past few weeks of Japanese football writing as nine J-League outfits lodged offers with Yokohama to try and sign the centre back. Jubilo are the reigning Japanese champions.