Cannavaro faces Asian test
Print Edition
FORMER world player of the year Fabio Cannavaro faces a tough start to his managerial career when he leads 2013 winner Guangzhou Evergrande into the AFC Champions League this week.
Glittering honors as a player do not guarantee success in the dug-out and World Cup-winner Cannavaro, 41, is taking the plunge at a club where expectations are sky-high.
Four Chinese titles in a row, plus China’s first Champions League win, add up to a tough act to follow as Cannavaro takes over from his former Italy boss Marcello Lippi.
However Lippi remains involved as director of football and he will be well placed to closely mentor Cannavaro, his captain when Italy won the 2006 World Cup.
Guangzhou lost last month’s Super Cup final to Shandong Luneng in Cannavaro’s first game in charge, but his career starts in earnest against FC Seoul tomorrow.
The South Korean club thrashed Hanoi T&T 7-0 in the playoffs and it will be eyeing revenge for the 2013 final, when it missed out to well-heeled Guangzhou.
The southern club has been on another spending spree in the close season, splashing out a Chinese-record 15 million euros on Brazilian player of the year Ricardo Goulart.
Guangzhou, part-owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba, also spent 11 million euros on Red Bull Salzburg’s Brazilian striker Alan as it continues its policy of blending South American flair with a core of Chinese players.
The “Manchester United of Asia” became China’s first Champions League winners in 2013 but it was shocked in last year’s quarterfinals by eventual victors Western Sydney Wanderers.
But Guangzhou has an early chance for revenge with the defending champion, currently rock-bottom of the A-League with one win from 16, also in Group H.
City rival Guangzhou R&F is making its debut and it also faces a difficult start when it takes on Japanese treble-winner Gamba Osaka today.
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