Cannavaro Quits Tianjin Quanjian to Return to Guangzhou

By Matthew Bossons

Fabio Cannavaro has departed Tianjin Quanjian and is returning to Guangzhou Evergrande. The Italian was revealed today as the club’s new head coach, after the departure of ‘Big Phil’ Scolari.

Cannavaro’s first stint with Evergrande began back in November of 2014, when he replaced his former national team coach Marcello Lippi as the club’s boss. He was abruptly sacked less than a year later, in June 2015, after a CSL match against Tianjin Teda. 

Cannavaro and Lippi 

After his dismissal from Evergrande, Cannavaro relocated to Saudi Arabia to take over as head coach of Al Nassr. He was replaced by Big Phil and Evergrande would go on to win the AFC Champions League in 2015 and secure three league titles under Scolari’s leadership.

But Cannavaro, who was captain of the 2006 World Cup-winning Italian squad, was not done with China. In June of 2016, he became the new manager of Tianjin Quanjian, leading the club to the 2016 China League One title, securing them a spot in the 2017 Chinese Super League. 

In the 2017 CSL, Tianjin Quanjian finished third, clinching a place in the 2018 AFC Champions League after a dramatic 2-1 win at Chinese Super League Champions Guangzhou Evergrande at Tianhe Stadium in the last game of the season. 

Tianjin Quanjian accepted Cannavaro’s resignation as club boss on November 6, one day after Scolari announced he would not be re-signing with Evergrande. 

And that pretty much brings us up to speed: Cannavaro is leaving Tianjin to back at the helm in Guangzhou.

"I'm very honoured and happy to be back in Guangzhou," said Cannavaro. "Before leaving here last time I had said that I would come back one day.

"Fortunately I have gathered some very good experiences in the Chinese leagues since then and I am so happy to be back.

"Evergrande's plan for the upcoming years excites me very much and strongly motivates me to work with club. We will need to bring as many Chinese talents out as possible while keeping winning as always."

So long Mr. Cannavaro, and thanks for getting Tianjin Quanjian into the CSL and then the Champions League!

[Images via ZeeNews, ifeng.com]

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