On choosing a team captain

• "I think the captain is important, but more often than not, a captain popular with the sponsors or the media does not make a good one. I will wait to see who has what it takes. There are no schools to develop captains, just as there isn't one to raise teachers. It's something you're born with. Of course, I will honor democracy, too."

Football/Philosophy

• "Winning is composed of a variety of elements, but if you win, the details tend to get overlooked. Losing makes the best teacher, but I cannot ask my team to lose. Everything and anything is possible in football. And tomorrow, we will reach one kind of conclusion." [On August 8, 2006, the eve of the match in which Japan beat Trinidad and Tobago 2–0 in Osim's first game as manager.]

On his resignation from the Yugoslav national team

• "My country doesn't deserve to play in the European Championship. On the scale of human suffering, I cannot reconcile events at home with my position as national manager."

On Japan's upcoming match with Vietnam

• "I don't care about what happens in the other game, it will be hot. Vietnam are the home team. We will try to win. But we could lose. It's not rocket science!"

On Japan's Strikers in the 2007 Asian Cup

• "When you shoot, make sure you hit the damn target. You can't shoot straight."