Football
Michael Church, Asia correspondent 7y

Scolari waves away Lippi comparisons as Guangzhou wins Chinese Super Cup

Luiz Felipe Scolari dismissed comparisons between himself and fellow World Cup winner Marcello Lippi after he led Guangzhou Evergrande to a 1-0 win in the Chinese Super Cup against Jiangsu Suning on Saturday.

The victory -- which came thanks to a stunning first-half strike by Brazilian Alan -- moved Scolari ahead of the Italian in terms of trophies won during their respective stints at the Chinese club, with the Brazilian having claimed six to Lippi's five since taking over less than two years ago.

Scolari, though, felt his latest win -- which follows two Chinese Super League titles, the Asian Champions League in 2015 as well as last year's Chinese FA Cup and Chinese Super Cup -- vindicated the club's decision to hire him as a replacement for Fabio Cannavaro in June 2015.

"I am not here to be compared with anyone," said Scolari. "I am here to win titles for Guangzhou. I hope we can win championships every season that I'm here.

"I can be very frank with you, today this championship proves again it was the right choice to hire me. I hope we can gain more titles in the future."

Lippi also won the Chinese Super League twice during his time with the club, while also delivering the Asian Champions League in 2013, the Chinese Super Cup and the Chinese FA Cup before eventually taking over as China national team boss.

The 2006 World Cup winner was in the crowd in Chongqing as Scolari's side continued to hold their hoodoo over Jiangsu, who finished as runners-up in last year's Super Cup as well as in the Chinese Super League and Chinese FA Cup.

"This was a well-matched game," said Scolari. "Both sides have talented players with their own specialities. It should be a 50-50 game. A match like these deserves to be called the China derby. We were better at converting our chance into a goal, so we won the
championship."

The defeat was yet another at the hands of Guangzhou for Jiangsu's South Korean coach Choi Yong-soo, who took over at Jiangsu last summer having lost in the final of the 2013 Asian Champions League to Lippi's Guangzhou while at the helm of FC Seoul in 2013.

"So far the teams I have coached haven't won against Guangzhou Evergrande," said Choi. "It will only motivate and encourage us not to give up. I believe we will have chance to beat Guangzhou in Chinese Super League and Chinese FA Cup this year.

"Guangzhou's players have experienced a lot of big occasions and they have also trained together for long time. On the contrary, our players are short of experience. But for me this is fact that I have to face, and it is my responsibility to improve players."

^ Back to Top ^