China Fires Men's National Soccer Coach Alain Perrin

China's men's soccer coach Alain Perrin is out as the head of the national team, the Xinhua News Agency and Associated Press are reporting Friday.

Perrin, who formerly coached French side Lyon, was in the job just under two years. He is China's eighth foreign manager. The search for a replacement is underway, the reports said. In 2015, China's President Xi Jinping made improvement of the men's team, currently ranked 82nd in the world, a priority.

That ignores the general success of the women's national soccer team, which was the runner-up at the 1999 Women's World Cup, and has consistently reached the quarterfinals, including in 1991, 2003, 2007, and 2015. The men's team has never made it out of the group stages, only qualifying for the World Cup in 2002, exiting the tournament without scoring a goal in defeats to Brazil, Costa Rica, and Turkey.

The move is apparently by mutual consent. China is attempting to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and are currently third in their group with two matches left to play, including one against group leader Qatar. They trail second place team Hong Kong, but have a game in hand. The best China can do is place second, by winning those two matches. Even if Hong Kong beat Qatar in March, China would pip Hong Kong on goal difference, which currently stands at +20 to Hong Kong's +10.

The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will advance to the third round of World Cup qualification, where the first and second place teams of the two groups will advance to the World Cup, with the two third place teams moving on to a fourth round of qualification, according to Wikipedia.

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is currently available, if anyone needs grist for the new manager rumor mill.

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Photo: Le Progres