Last time when Italian coach Marcello Lippi offered a national team contract, China was struggling in 2018 World Cup qualifying as they achieved only one point after four games. Lippi failed to make the team into the tournament and eventually left China after a 3-0 defeat to Iran at Asian Cup quarterfinals in January.

Meanwhile, the 45-year-old Guangzhou Evergrande head coach Fabio Cannavaro admits it's difficult for him to coach both the national team and the club as he announces the decision to give up the position as the Chinese men's coach.

The Chinese Football Association (CFA) is staying silence while Lippi's return has no doubt. The World Cup-winning coach came back to Guangzhou last month and was reportedly to sign a new contract with the aim of leading the Chinese national team to qualify for Qatar 2022.

Lippi still has four months to build up the squad as China will start the 2022 World Cup qualifier in September. Before that, two friendly matches have already been scheduled to be held in Guangzhou, where Lippi had a stint with the Chinese Super League (CSL) Side Guangzhou Evergrande from 2012 to 2015.

According to the Tajikistan Football Association, the Tajikistan national team, ranked 120th in the world, will start up their warm-up tour with several Asian teams including the Chinese national team in Guangzhou on June 11. It's reported that China will face their Asian Cup group rival Philippines in another friendly but still not been confirmed.

These two friendly games in June might be crucial to China as Lippi's side target to maintain FIFA ranking. The top eight Asian teams will automatically become seeded teams in the qualifiers as China are currently in eighth place in the latest FIFA rankings.

For Lippi, who led Guangzhou Evergrande to three Chinese Super League titles and one AFC Champions League, expected to do something different for his second term. His aim was not just the World Cup qualifier but to put more young players on the pitch and direct the Chinese national team in the right way for years to come. The Italian is proven at every level while the unstable national team needs a long-term plan.