Boca Juniors name Ischia new manager

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: South American champions Boca Juniors named surprise choice Carlos Ischia as their new coach on Wednesday.

The appointment by Argentina's biggest club was a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Ischia, who two months ago quit Rosario Central with the team at the bottom of the Apertura championship.

"The happiness on my face says everything," Ischia told a news conference as he was officially presented by club president Pedro Pompilio.

"It's an enormous satisfaction to return to this club."

Ischia was previously assistant to Carlos Bianchi at Boca between 1998 and 2001, when the club enjoyed an unprecedented run of success.

But the 51-year-old has relatively little experience as a coach in his own right.

He has previously coached middle-ranking clubs Velez Sarsfield, Gimnasia-La Plata and Rosario Central in Argentina, and Atletico Junior in Colombia.

Ischia replaced Miguel Angel Russo, who resigned last week following the 4-2 loss to AC Milan in the Club World Cup final in Japan.

Russo won the Libertadores during his year in charge but failed to win either of the two domestic tournaments in which Boca took part.

Ischia will command a squad that includes mercurial playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, who has returned to the club from Spain's Villarreal.

Agencies

(China Daily 12/28/2007 page23)