Guus Hiddink, was branded a "messiah" when the vastly experienced veteran was handed the coaching reins of China's U-22 national team and tasked with steering the Team Dragon to qualification for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

But 374 days later, his China tenure ended on a sour note.

The ax finally fell on Hiddink on Thursday, an increasingly inevitable divorce as the Dutchman fell out with the Chinese Football Association (CFA), used arthritis treatment as an excuse to miss a large chunk of domestic games and oversaw a troubling decline in performances and results on the pitch.

This month's humiliating 2-0 defeat to an unfancied Vietnam side, which caused quite a stir among infuriating Chinese fans, proved to be the final straw. Former China women's national team head coach Hao Wei has been announced as Hiddink's replacement.

It is a dramatic downfall for the 72-year-old whose glittering CV includes leading co-hosts South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup and taking Australia to the last 16 four years later in Germany.

The seeds of disharmony were sown when Hiddink repeatedly failed to make himself available to monitor his players in the Chinese football league games, with the ex-Chelsea boss even reluctant to send his assistants to do the work in his stead.

Following a run of dismal results which saw China clinch only four wins in 12 matches across all competitions, Hiddink further incurred the wrath of CFA as he rejected the national footballing authority's urgent proposal to start the next phase of the training program ahead of schedule.

To make matters worse, the sudden departure of Sun Jihai — the former Manchester City defender who has been an integral part of Hiddink's backroom staff — has put the legendary Dutch coach in an increasingly untenable position.

With only six months to go to the qualification event for the 2020 Olympics, the CFA finally decided to part company with Hiddink before it's too late. That said, sacking the Holland veteran wouldn't solve all of China's problems, which go deeper than a clueless coach, a limited talent pool and a sub-par squad.

The appointment of Hao Wei may serve as a temporary stabilizing presence, but there's no denying that the latest twist has thrown China's preparations for the upcoming qualification campaign into disarray.

A lesson may have been learned: no messiah can save a team if all hopes are pinned on any foreign panacea.