China dump Perrin after World Cup flop

AFP: China’s football body announced the sacking of national coach Alain Perrin on Friday after a disappointing run of results left their World Cup qualifying campaign hanging by a thread.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) said the decision had been made “out of consideration for the performance of the Chinese national team” and “the needs of future team-building”.

After “sincere consultations” the two sides had decided Perrin “will no longer work as the head coach of China’s national team”, a statement on the CFA website said, adding that the search for a replacement would start immediately.

The news comes just a year after the ex-Lyon and Marseille boss led China to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in Australia, in their best performance in more than a decade.

But optimism has since faded, and the CFA made a public apology and announced a review into the Frenchman’s performance after a 0-0 World Cup qualifying draw with Hong Kong in November.

With two games to go in the second round of qualifying for Russia 2018, China are third in their group and teetering on the brink of elimination.

The way forward for China remains unclear, but they will be desperate to solve the riddle of creating a national team to match the country’s soaring football ambitions.

Spearheaded by football-loving President Xi Jinping, China hopes to host and even win a World Cup, and has ordered the game to be played more widely in schools.

The country is also preparing to bid for the 2023 Asian Cup, the continent’s biggest football championship.

The challenge of leading the world’s most populous and second-largest economy to football glory would intrigue many coaches -- but China’s record invites caution.

China are currently languishing at 82nd in the rankings, below the likes of Equatorial Guinea and Libya, and have only ever reached one World Cup, in 2002.