The Chinese football association formally announced the hiring of the 68-year-old Lippi,

China have hired World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi as the new manager of their national football team.

The Chinese football association formally announced the hiring of the 68-year-old Lippi, who guided Italy to the 2006 World Cup title, and was more recently in charge of Guangzhou Evergrande.

It is the latest move by China in a national push to become more competitive in football. Under President Xi Jinping, a fan of the sport, China has set the goal of becoming a superpower, but its foray into the sport has so far been a failure.

The men’s national team have qualified for just one World Cup, in 2002, and did not score a single goal. In contrast, the women’s team finished as runners-up in the 1999 World Cup.

Lippi replaces Gao Hongbo, who resigned after China’s loss to Uzbekistan on 11 October, and will be officially presented at a press conference in Beijing on 28 October.