Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Guangzhou: ACL Group H winners Guangzhou Evergrande announced the signing of World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi on Friday.
With Lippi’s arrival, Korea Republic’s Lee Jang-soo stepped down as the coach just a day after guiding Evergrande to the historic ACL knockout stages as Group H winners. Lippi’s first continental job would be a home tie against ACL debutant FC Tokyo on May 30. It is unclear whether Lee would continue working with the club with any other capacity or not.
The club released a statement on Thursday which read, “"In accordance with the strategic needs of the club... the following decision was made: to hire Mr. Marcello Lippi as the head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande. "The period of hiring is two years and six months."
The 2006 World Cup winner and former Juventus and Inter coach was out of work after Italy’s 2010 disastrous World Cup campaign. This is the first time such a high profile coach is working in Chinese football. Everegrande had just made a marquee signing of Lucas Barios from Borussia Dortmund.
At a press conference to announce Lippi’s capture, the 64-year old said, “"I dispatched an assistant to go see the club's matches, which made me even more determined. I am very enthusiastic about coming to China."
Lippi’s first assignment with the club will be Sunday’s home match against Qingdao Jonoon.