Jiangsu hires Capello to turn around woeful season
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, June 12, 2017
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Fabio Capello. |
Former England and Russia national team manager Fabio Capello has been named new head coach of Chinese Super League side Jiangsu Suning, the club said on social media last night.
Capello replaces Choi Yong-soo, who resigned earlier this month to return to coach FC Seoul in his native South Korea after Jiangsu was knocked out of the AFC Champions League in the round of 16 by fellow CSL side Shanghai SIPG.
The Italian, who won the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan in 1994 and who was at the helm with England at the World Cup finals in 2010, takes over a Jiangsu side that is 15th in the 16-team championship having won just once so far this year in the league.
The current campaign has been a struggle for the club after it finished as runner-up in both the league and Chinese FA Cup last year.
The Italian, who turns 71 this month, will become the latest high-profile coach to join China's football revolution. Italian media reported that Capello would be earning an annual salary of 10 million euros (US$11.2 million) during the 1-1/2-year contract. Compatriots Gianluca Zambrotta and Cristian Brocchi might also join Capello's coaching team.
Capello is the latest big name coach to move to China, with CSL leader and reigning champion Guangzhou Evergrande currently managed by 2002 World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Jiangsu was earlier linked to Portuguese manager Paulo Sousa, who was in charge of Fiorentina before being replaced by former Inter Milan boss Stefano Pioli earlier this month.
Capello is set for a new challenge in China two years after he was sacked by Russian in July 2015. With star players like Brazilians Alex Teixeira and Ramires, the Italian's first task would be to lead Jiangsu out of the relegation zone.
Fellow CSL side Beijing Guo'an, meanwhile, has named former Bayer Leverkusen and Salzburg head coach Roger Schmidt as replacement for the recently sacked Jose Gonzalez.
Schmidt, who guided Leverkusen to the knockout rounds of the UCL in 2015, was given a 2-1/2-year contract by the former champion after two months of talks.
Schmidt will take over a team that is currently 7th in the CSL, 16 points adrift of Evergrande and 10 behind third-placed Hebei China Fortune, which holds the league's final berth in next year's ACL.
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