Gao Hongbo

CHANGCHUN: Former AFC Champions League outfit and China Super League champions Changchun Yatai sacked their coach Gao Hongbo recently due to the team’s poor performances.

Changchun failed to qualify for the AFC Champions League quarter-finals and finished second in Group E with 12 points, two less than Australia’s Adelaide United.

They were held 2-2 by Shanghai Shenhua at home in the 12th round of China Super League and are placed 10th in the 16-team standings.

“Due to team’s poor showing in the AFC Champions League and China Super League, Gao’s departure was on the expected lines,” an official statement from Changchun Yatai said.

Gao became the ninth coach to have shown the door by the Chinese clubs this season.

Gao, who had expressed his interest to coach the national team after Changchun won the China Super League crown last year, could well fulfill his ambition following Serbia’s Vladimir Petrovic departure from the national team hot seat recently due to team’s poor show in the third round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers.