Guangzhou Evergrande Group Vice President Liu Yongzhuo poses with Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
In a dramatic late development that took many by surprise, Chinese Super League side and defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande replaced Italian head coach Fabio Cannavaro with Brazilian World Cup winning manager Luiz Felipe Scolari yesterday.
Evergrande is joint top in the 16-team CSL along with Shandong Luneng.
A statement was posted on the club's official website less than an hour after Guangzhou played out a 2-2 draw against Tianjin Teda yesterday.
"Considering the development strategy of the club, we reached an agreement with Mr Cannavaro that he will no longer be the head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande from June 5," the statement said.
"Mr Cannavaro has been a fair, strict and devoted coach, and has won respect from all since he became the team's manager in December 2014. We want to thank him for the hard work and wish him the best in future career and life."
The club said it had signed a contract with Scolari for two and half years.
The 66-year-old Brazilian signed with Brazilian side Gremio in July 2014, but quit last month after a poor start to the season. The much-travelled Brazilian guided the national team to fourth place at last year World Cup that included a humiliating 1-7 loss to eventual champion Germany.
On the pitch, SIPG was the only Shanghai team this week which could muster a point in the 13th round of the CSL.
Shanghai Shenxin lost 0-1 at home to Chongqing Lifan last night to sink deeper into the relegation zone. On Wednesday, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua lost 1-3 to Changchun Yatai away, while Shanghai SIPG rallied for a 2-2 draw with CSL newcomer Shijiazhuang Ever Bright to grab the only point for Shanghai.
Chongqing's Australian defender Adrian Leijer scored the only goal from a header in the closing minute of the first half against Shenxin.
The match was crucial for Shenxin as Chongqing was in 14th place in the 16-team CSL going into the game. A victory for Shenxin would have closed the gap. Shenxin now sits at the bottom of the table with just four points while Chongqing has 13 points.
Greenland Shenhua conceded an own goal in the 35th after a misunderstanding between midfielder Wang Shouting and goalkeeper Qiu Shengjiong. The hosts then extended the lead three minutes into the second half with a quickly taken free-kick that surprised Shenhua players. Both sides scored a goal each to finish the game 3-1 for Changchun.
Shenhua's head coach Francis Gillot is under pressure after failing to notch a victory in the last six matches.
The club, in 11th place with 15 points, had set a goal at the start of the season to finish in the top six.
Gillot would not talk about reports of buying a foreign striker in the mid-season.
Shanghai SIPG also conceded an own goal just five minutes after kick-off when defender Wang Jiajie's long clearance to his keeper flew into the net with keeper Yan Junling out of position. But the Shanghai side rallied to grab a 2-2 draw.
SIPG is 4th with 23 points. Beijing Guo'an can top the table if it can beat Guangzhou R&F today.
The CSL will resume in two weeks after a break for the 2018 Asia World Cup qualifiers.
