Nan Yong will officially take over the job of former Chinese Football Association (CFA) chief Xie Yalong next week on a permanent basis, Beijing Times reported yesterday.

Former vice-president Xie was appointed by the State General Administration of Sport (SGAS) in early 2005 in hope of reviving the national team's flagging fortunes but was replaced by caretaker boss Nan after the men's team failed to win a single match during the Aug 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

The reshuffle also sees Zhang Jilong, a former high-ranking BOCOG official, return to assist Nan as second-in-command.

Unlike Xie and his predecessor Yan Shiduo, both of whom rose to the position with no background in soccer management, Nan and Zhang have been tipped as ideal candidates courtesy to their extensive managerial experience at home and abroad.

Since joining the CFA in 1997, Nan has played roles overseeing the men's and women's national teams, the men's Olympic team and the domestic league. He also managed the men's team that went on to make its first historic appearance at a World Cup in 2002.

Zhang, a former vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation, is a proven diplomat who has already helped realize the development of Chinese soccer.

Yet huge tasks await both figures as the national men's team failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in June while the Olympic team was eliminated from the group stage of the Beijing Games without notching a single win.

This has led many Chinese fans to lose faith in the team as a perennial underachiever. A recent public poll on sohu.com showed that 84 percent of respondents did not think the new appointments would improve the team's chances significantly.

(China Daily December 4, 2008)