Japan said Thursday that interim women's team coach Michihisa Kano will keep the on a job full-time basis, having stepped up when Nils Nielsen was axed 12 days after winning women's soccer's Asian Cup.

Greenlander Nielsen led a rampant Japan to its third Asian title in four tournaments in March, beating host Australia 1-0 in the final.

Nielsen, the first foreigner to coach Japan's women's team, was ousted less than two weeks later at the end of his contract, with soccer chiefs accusing him of "lacking passion."

"His coaching was a little too lax, a little too soft," Japan Football Association official Norio Sasaki said of Nielsen.…