Australia Football Coach Ange Postecoglou Steps Down

Canberra: Ange Postecoglou has resigned as head coach of Australia's national men's football team, the Socceroos, despite the squad qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

Postecoglou's announcement ended months of speculation surrounding the job, reports Xinhua news agency. "After a great deal of thought and soul-searching, I've decided that the journey for me ends as Socceroos coach," Postecoglou, 52, told the media. "As I've said many times, it's been the biggest privilege of my life and probably not the ending I had envisaged when we started, but at the same time, knowing it's the right time for me and the right decision," he added.

Postecoglou took over as Socceroos coach in 2013 and became the first Australian to coach the Socceroos at the World Cup in 2014. In November, he became the first Australian coach to lead a successful qualification campaign when the Socceroos defeated Honduras 3-1. Under his reign, the Socceroos achieved the team's greatest accomplishment in winning the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup at home in 2015.

The Asian Cup victory and qualification for the 2018 World Cup under difficult circumstances will see him remembered as one of the Socceroos' greatest-ever coaches.

-IANS