BEIJING: Marcello Lippi, who guided Italy to 2006 World Cup success, has come out of retirement to become the new manager of China.

Lippi, 68, had two spells in charge of the Italian national team and won five Serie A titles and the Champions League with Juventus.

He retired from coaching after winning a third straight league title with Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande in 2014.

China are ranked 84th in the world.

The Italian replaces Gao Hongbo, who resigned earlier this month after a 2-0 defeat in Uzbekistan dealt a further blow to China’s slim hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

They are bottom of Group A in Asia with one point from four games.

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