Cannavaro Quits Tianjin As Evergrande Rumours Swirl

Fabio Cannavaro has resigned as coach of Tianjin Quanjian, the club announced Monday, just days after steering them to an AFC Champions League berth and with rumours swirling he will return to seven-time Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande

Shanghai,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 06th Nov, 2017 ) :Fabio Cannavaro has resigned as coach of Tianjin Quanjian, the club announced Monday, just days after steering them to an AFC Champions League berth and with rumours swirling he will return to seven-time Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande.

The Italian World Cup winner, who engineered the club's promotion to the Chinese Super League (CSL) last year and a third-place finish in the top tier this year, will be succeeded by former Portuguese international Paulo Sousa, the club said.

A brief statement by Tianjin said Cannavaro's departure came after "friendly discussions" with the club, which praised the coach for his successful time at the helm. Neither Tianjin nor Cannavaro gave any immediate indication of his plans, but the 44-year-old Italian, world player of the year in 2006, has been linked to a possible move back to Guangzhou Evergrande.

Cannavaro coached Evergrande briefly in 2014-2015 and the job is open again after Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari confirmed at the weekend that he was leaving after wrapping up the club's seventh straight CSL title.

"It hurts me to leave Guangzhou, this group, but that's life," Scolari, 68, told reporters. "We all came out of this happy: me, Guangzhou, the players, and I hope I didn't disappoint you," he said in a video clip uploaded to Chinese social media.

Scolari did not rule out coaching another Chinese club in future. "I don't know if I will return to China as a manager. I will start thinking about the future from today. I haven't decided anything. But from now, as I finish up everything with Guangzhou, I will start thinking about my future."