Fabio Cannavaro back at Evergrande
Italian star signs five-year contract with club for second stint
Former World Player of the Year Fabio Cannavaro was named coach of Chinese Super League (CSL) champions Guangzhou Evergrande for the second time, the club confirmed Thursday.
Evergrande signed a five-year contract with the Italian, but gave no details on his salary, which some reports claimed is less than the 10 million euros ($11.6 million) earned by former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian left earlier this month after his contract with the club ran out, having steered the CSL giants to their last three league titles in as many years and to Asian Champions League glory in 2015. Cannavaro’s salary at his former club Tianjin Quanjian was reported to be 5 million euros per year.
The Italian coach, one of the best defenders in the game during his playing days, resigned from Quanjian earlier this week, having taken the side to a second-division title last year and a top-three finish in their maiden season in the Chinese top flight, along with a first-ever group-stage berth in next year’s Asian Champions League. He first took the reins at Evergrande in November 2014, but was replaced by Scolari after only half a year following a poor run.
“I’m honored and happy to come back,” Cannavaro told a press conference on Thursday in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. “Before I left here last time, I said that I would be back some day. I’ve been fortunate to have gained precious experience in the Chinese league after leaving Evergrande.”
Evergrande boss Xu Jiayin said the reason they offered such a lengthy contract to the 44-year-old is because they’re confident with him. “He is not the same Cannavaro as two and a half years ago,” Xu joked about the man he fired before.
The Evergrande boss also set a target for next year, which is to win an eighth consecutive CSL title, as well as their third Asian Champions League trophy.
Cannavaro is counting on his players to achieve the feat. “There’re five to six teams in the CSL who are able to compete for the championship, and the league is getting more and more difficult,” he said. “But we’re not afraid of the situation, as we have been the champions in the last seven years … We need all the players to have the desire to make their contribution to the team.”
Most Evergrande fans are happy to have Cannavaro as their coach again.
“Finally it’s confirmed! After longtime rumors!” wrote one fan on Sina Weibo.
But not everyone is optimistic about his second stint at the helm. Some called Cannavaro’s return a slap in the face of the club. “First you hired him, then fired him, and now you hired him again,” a fan commented under Evergrande’s Sina Weibo account. “Cannavaro is competent, but he has never coached a top-level team. It will be hard for him to continue Evergrande’s glories. Not sure what Mr Xu is thinking about, but I don’t believe Cannavaro will make it.”