Football
Michael Church, Asia correspondent 7y

China boss Marcello Lippi aims to improve players' mentality

Marcello Lippi plans to focus on improving the China players' psychological approach to the game as he prepares to take charge of his first game.

China take on Qatar in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Kunming on Tuesday, and the game will be the first competitive fixture for the team since Lippi was unveiled as Gao Hongbo's replacement last month. 

China have picked up only one point from their opening four matches in the final phase of Asia's qualifying tournament for the World Cup and Lippi, who won three Chinese Super League titles and the Asian Champions League crown with Guangzhou Evergrande, has stressed the need to boost his players' mental approach.

"The most important key for my success at Guangzhou Evergrande was to create a very strong mentality and that is what I have to do with the national team as well," Lippi, who won the 2006 World Cup with Italy, told the Asian Football Confederation's official website.

"Only if you have a very strong and positive mentality can you achieve great success. We are going to put a lot of effort into building a strong mentality for the national team."

Lippi was handed a four-year contract in October to take charge of a national side that has struggled for much of the last decade, with China only qualifying for the World Cup once -- in 2002 -- and having not reached the final of the Asian Cup, the region's continental championship, since doing so on home soil in 2004.

Since then, China had failed to advance to the final phase of Asia's qualifying rounds for the World Cup for 2006, 2010 and 2014 and only made it through to the current round of qualifying by the narrowest of margins.

Lippi, however, insists his positive experience in China while with Guangzhou, who he coached from mid-2012 until the end of 2014, was enough to lure him back to the country.

"I decided to become the head coach of team China because I have had a very good experience in China already," he said.

"I spent three years in China where I had some great experiences and met a number of people from the Chinese Football Association. That helped me make the decision to become head coach.

"I know that for me it's a big challenge and it will not be easy. However, I will try my best to improve Chinese football and aim to get better and better in the future."

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