Lippi says Cannavaro sacking short-sighted
Print Edition
MARCELLO Lippi expressed surprise at the sacking of compatriot and successor Fabio Cannavaro by Guangzhou Evergrande and having him replaced by Brazilian World Cup winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari in the middle of the Chinese Super League season.
“Some people are short-sighted and it is hard to gauge their intentions,” Lippi told Italian Sky Sports yesterday.
“I had a talk with the club last week, but they did not tell me anything and neither did I see anything coming. This has taken me completely by surprise.
“Maybe they think Cannavaro is too young to manage I don’t know, but he has done a good job by taking the team to the top of the Chinese Super League.”
Lippi, who won three Chinese league titles and one Asian Champions League crown in his 2-1/2 years at Evergrande, had vouched for Cannavaro’s ability as a manager. He said yesterday that the 41-year-old, who captained Italy’s 2006 World Cup winning team, was capable of coaching any Italian team.
Cannavaro had no idea what was coming when he went into the CSL game against Tianjin Teda on Thursday night.
He was on his way to the post-match press conference after his team was held to a 2-2 draw when he was hauled into urgent talks with club bosses, Titan Sports reported yesterday.
The meeting lasted for around half an hour, the paper claimed.
Evergrande players were also in the dark and were told to stay in the locker room after the match. Cannavaro later walked in with Evergrande group vice president Ke Peng and announced his departure to the shocked players.
“This is the group’s decision. You will have a new coach,” he told the players. “Thank you for your help and support over the past few months. If you need my help in future, no matter whether I’m your manager or not, let me know and I will try my best to help.”
He insisted that despite the sacking it was a memorable experience coaching Guangzhou.
“I leave the team 1st in Super League and in the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League. Never give up!” the Italian said in a Twitter message.
Cannavaro took over as head coach at the end of last year on the recommendation of his predecessor Lippi. He got along well with the players, many of whom regarded him like an elder brother.
Evergrande players Huang Bowen and Zhang Jiaqi were reportedly close to tears on being told he was sacked.
But Sina.com reported that Cannavaro did not get along with his assistant coaches — all Italians — who formerly worked with Lippi.
The website quoted a club source who claimed Lippi met with the club owners last month to ask them to release his assistants as he had an offer to coach an unnamed national team in Europe.
Evergrande, Sina claimed, were never confident that Cannavaro was the right man for the job, given the club’s ambitions, and had told him at the beginning of the season that a decision would be taken in the middle of the season. Cannavaro reportedly did not object to anything when he was told Scolari would be taking charge.
Under Cannavaro, Evergrande won 11 victories, drew six and lost six with a winning rate of 47.8 percent.
The club owners always wanted the team to play the South American brand of football.
Even before naming Lippi as the head coach in May 2012, the club was in touch with Scolari. However, the Brazilian turned down the 10-million-euro offer to be with the Brazilian national team.
After Scolari quit Brazilian side Gremio last month, Evergrande group vice president Liu Yongzhuo flew to Brazil last week to hold talks with him.
The 66-year-old veteran agreed to a 2-1/2 year deal with Evergrande where he will team up with four other Brazilians — midfielders Rene Junior and Ricardo Goulart, and strikers Alan and Elkeson.
Scolari will be the second top Brazilian coach in China alongside Cuca, who manages Shandong Luneng.
Scolari has previous experience of coaching in Asia with spells in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and even Uzbekistan.
The club, which is owned by the large real estate company and e-commerce giant Alibaba, has spent more than US$120 million on players since 2010.
Evergrande president Xu Jiayin has previously spoken of the club’s ambition to become “a top 20 club in the world” in the next five years.
It has always maintained that “it will hire the world’s best coaches” in pursuit of that dream.
In that sense, Scolari, with his resume, fits the bill perfectly.
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