Beijing: China has dismissed respected Dutchman Guus Hiddink as coach of their Olympic football team after a disappointing year in charge.
In a statement, the China Football Association (CFA) said Thursday that former head coach of the Chinese women’s team Hao Wei would take over the key role for the men’s team.
The CFA said it was setting up a four-member group to be in charge of the Olympic qualifiers, with Guus Hiddink’s name notably absent.
The statement said the new leadership was ‘in view of the previous inadequate preparations for the Chinese U-22 National Men’s Football Team’ and was ‘in order to further strengthen team preparations and improve team building and management level’.
The 72-year-old Hiddink was appointed as head of the Olympic team last September. But he failed to make much of a difference. After an uninspiring series of performances, Guus Hiddink’s youth team lost 0-2 against Vietnam in a friendly at home earlier this month.
State news agency ‘Xinhua’ said Thursday night that ‘despite his illustrious coaching career, the Dutch veteran is far from (a) success in China’ with only four wins out of twelve matches’.
It should also be stated here that football-fan President Xi Jinping has grand ambitions of China hosting and even winning a World Cup. But efforts to boost the performance of China’s national team have been largely unsuccessful.
AFP