China appoint Marcello Lippi as manager of national team
China have appointed the World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi as their new coach. The 68-year-old guided Italy to the 2006 World Cup title and was more recently in charge of Guangzhou Evergrande.
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It is the latest move by China to become more competitive. Under Xi Jinping, a fan of the sport, China is striving to become a superpower, but its foray into football has been a failure.
The men’s team have qualified for only one World Cup, in 2002 and did not score a single goal. The women’s team finished as runners-up in the 1999 World Cup.
Lippi replaces Gao Hongbo, who resigned after China’s defeat to Uzbekistan on 11 October, and will be presented at a press conference in Beijing on 28 October.