With current women's soccer coach Elisabeth Loisel on her way out the door, the China Football Association (CFA) is scrambling to find the right person to replace her.
![As Frenchwoman Elisabeth Loisel, coach of China's women's soocer team, is likely to be axed soon due to a public row with team officials, reports say local coaches Wang Haiming (left) and Chen Jingang have become favorites to replace her. [Sina.com]](../../images/attachement/jpg/site1/20080321/000802ab4a63094d4ef101.jpg)
As Frenchwoman Elisabeth Loisel, coach of China's women's soocer team, is likely to be axed soon due to a public row with team officials, reports say local coaches Wang Haiming (left) and Chen Jingang have become favorites to replace her. [Sina.com] |
The announcement of Loisel's sacking is expected to come any day, amid speculation that former head coach Ma Yuan'an or men's coach Zhu Guanghu may get the job.
Now some new local names have entered the mix as well. Veteran coach Chen Jingang and another former women's head coach Wang Haiming have emerged as hot favorites for what has been a revolving post.
Wang led his team to rock bottom in last year's Algarve Cup, losing all three group matches before a shocking 4-1 drubbing at the hands of minnow Iceland in the ninth-place playoff.
Wang was then replaced by Loisel's predecessor Marika Domanski-Lyfors.
As Frenchwoman Elisabeth Loisel, coach of China's women's soocer team, is likely to be axed soon due to a public row with team officials, reports say local coaches Wang Haiming (left) and Chen Jingang have become favorites to replace her. Zhong Ti
Wang's history of failure opens the door for Chen, who used to be the women's assistant coach during the team's glory years of the 1990s.
Weary of the heavy pressures and unrelenting criticisms, Loisel said it would be wise for CFA to choose a Chinese coach to lead the slumping team.
"It's too complicated to coach in China. It's impossible for a foreign coach to get used to everything here," Loisel said. "I think China should have chosen a local coach right from the start."
But CFA is still trying to figure out how to get out of the contract it signed with Loisel late last year.
The coach has not resigned, meaning CFA will have to pay her about 1 million yuan for a breach of contract if it decided to sack her outright.
A tired coach
Loisel is now back in France after China's disastrous Algarve Cup in southern Portugal earlier this month, relaxing and spending time with family.
"I have nothing to feel sorry and sad for. Right now I feel kind of relieved after all of these fights," she said.
"I was physically and mentally tired and exhausted," Loisel told Titan Sports.
Loisel's public row with team official Zhang Jianqiang and her sour relationship with some of her players contributed to her likely dismissal.
During the Algarve Cup, where China lost all three group matches, tensions escalated after Loisel urged CFA officials to replace Zhang, threatening to quit if Zhang remained.
Reports say Zhang will likely stay after Loisel leaves, but Loisel said she no longer had a passion for the job even if CFA meets her demands.
"I would have to think about it even if CFA replaced Zhang. I was so tired that I needed some time to think about it."
The golden era of China women's soccer began in the 1990s. It is the runner-up in the 1999 World Cup and also captured the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics. But after the retirement of some key members of that 1990s world and Olympic runner-up team, China sank rapidly as countries like Germany, the US and Brazil became the sport's dominant powers.
Loisel said China has the potential to come back, but current circumstances will make a full return unlikely in the near future.
"I am so sorry for this team. China has the potential and the conditioning to get back to the world's top again or even become world champion again. But it has not happened so far. I even cannot see hope any more. Now I know why."
Loisel was the seventh head coach and the second foreign coach for China in four years.
Sports commentator Li Chengpeng said the infighting within the CFA is to blame for the team's sad state of affairs.
"Compared to the men's team, the women's team is a medal hopeful in the Olympics. So every chief official in CFA is trying to control this team in a bid to benefit his or her political career," Li wrote on his blog.
"When the head coach is supported by a vice-president from CFA, other vice-presidents will choose to finds ways to restrict the head coach like sending their own team official to give extra effluence to the team.
"The sacking of Loisel is not an individual problem. She actually becomes the scapegoat."
