China 0-0 India: 5 talking points from the match

#2 Pressure mounting on Lippi

Lippi will need to change the fortunes of the team quickly

Two years ago, China hired World Cup-winning coach Marcelo Lippi. The veteran Italian is a known face in China, as he coached Guangzhou Evergrande twice and led them to AFC Champions League.

In fact, Lippi is the only coach to have won a World Cup, UEFA Champions League and AFC Champions League.

Being one of the highest paid managers in Asia, a lot was expected from him. He started delivering results.

China almost qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2018 after beating Qatar 2-1, but a draw in South Korea-Uzbekistan match put paid to their hopes. Only six matches in charge by then, Lippi couldn’t have done better.

However, he put in a lot of changes in the team, bringing back the players’ self-confidence. He injected new blood in the team. China even trusted him and increased his contract until 2022 World Cup.

As a much higher ranked team, China were expected to beat India quite comfortably, even though recent results were not in their favour.

But as the task remain unaccomplished, the pressure is mounting on the Italian coach. Never will anyone doubt his credentials. But he needs to do a miracle to turn the fortunes of the team.