Head coach of Beijing Guoan Alberto Zaccheroni (File photo/Xinhuanet)
Beijing Guoan has sacked its head coach Alberto Zaccheroni on Thursday after a 0-2 loss to Hebei China Fortune in the Chinese Super League (CSL), according to resources within the club, his assistant Xie Feng would be the interim head coach.
The Italian replaced Gregorio Manzano as the head coach of Beijing Guoan in Janaury, but has endured a tough start in the CSL with only 2 wins in 9 games and ranked 10th place in the 16-team league.
After the 0-2 loss to Hebei China Fortune on Wednesday, some supporters gathered at Beijing's Workers' Stadium players and staff entrance, where they shouted "Zaccheroni out!". It was the second time such protest had happened.
Media reports on Thursday said Zaccheroni had been sacked and the club confiremd to Xinhua in the night that they have discussed the dismissal of Zaccheroni right after the match with China Fortune, but there are some follow-up work should be done so the club's official statement has not yet been released. The Italian's assistant Xie Feng will be the team's interim head coach before the new coach being appointed.
Zaccheroni established himself as one of the world-class coaches in 1997/98 season when he led Udinese to the 2nd place in Italian Seria A. Then in the next season, he won the Seria A champion with AC Milan which was the highlight of his coaching career. He has also won the Asian Cup with Japanese men's national team in 2011.
