Former Chinese national team coach Gao Hongbo returned to the post on Wednesday as he was named the new head coach of Team China by the -Chinese Football Association (CFA).
But his role is considered to be that of a caretaker as the CFA said in a -statement that they hired Gao to prepare for the Asian second-round qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup in Russia against Maldives on March 24 and Qatar on March 29.
The disappointing run of results by Gao's French predecessor Alain Perrin has put China's 2018 World Cup qualifying hopes in jeopardy.
China is currently sitting in third place in Group C Camisola Cedric Portuguesa , trailing second-placed Hong Kong by three points.
The four best runners-up across all eight groups will advance to the third round along with the eight group -winners.
But soccer pundit Zhang Lu is not bullish about China's hope of advancing to the World Cup.
"Gao did well during his previous tenure," Zhang told the Global Times. "But based on the current players, it is hard for the team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup even if Gao led the team through the second round."
Zhang believed if Gao did well in the next two matches, he is likely to be -given a permanent job. Zhang also -noted that, as the squad lacks depth, picking a -domestic coach to earn experience is better than spending big on hiring a -famous foreign coach.
Gao left his previous tenure as the national team head coach after the team suffered an early elimination from the 2011 Asian Cup. He was replaced by Spaniard Jose Antonio Camacho, who was sent packing midway through a -lucrative contract in 2013 after the team was humiliated 5-1 by a second-string Thailand.
But Gao's tenure did see some heydays, highlighted by a 3-0 win over South Korea in 2010 - China's first win in 32 years to get rid of the Korea-phobia - and a 1-0 win over France as well as a 1-1 draw with Germany.
When Gao was dismissed in -August 2011, he said his "first half" with the -national team was finished, and he would wait for his "second half."
Later he had stints at Chinese Super League sides Guizhou Renhe (now Beijing Renhe), Shanghai East Asia (now Shanghai SIPG) and Jiangsu Sainty (now Jiangsu Suning) before being sent to Dutch top-tier side ADO Den Haag as a member of backroom staff
In comments to Gao's only post on his Sina Weibo page dating back to the end of 2010, some netizens expressed their fierce disappointment with the CFA.
"We've wasted a lot of time … Talented young players aged, passionate -players got fooled, and we've lavished too much money on hiring foreign coaches," one Weibo user commented. "Only an -apology from the CFA is not enough for their mismanagement during these years."
The CFA issued apology letters on their website both after the Thai match in 2013 and a disappointing draw with Hong Kong in November.
The Pentagon is expected to submit to Congress on Tuesday President Barack Obama's long-awaited plan for closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, setting up a battle with lawmakers who oppose his efforts.
Obama, whose pledge to shut the facility at the U.S. naval base in Cuba dates back to the start of his presidency in 2009, is seeking to make good on his promise before he leaves office next January.
Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said the administration intended to meet Tuesday's deadline to present its detailed proposal for closing the facility. There are still 91 prisoners detained there.
"We understand the deadline is tomorrow and it's our intent to meet it," Davis told reporters.
U.S. officials have said the plan would call for sending to their homelands or third countries detainees who have been cleared for transfer, now numbering 35, and bringing remaining prisoners, possibly several dozen, to U.S. soil to be held in maximum-security prisons. Congress has banned such transfers to the United States since 2011.
Another option that will be cited in the administration’s blueprint will be the possibility of sending some prisoners overseas for prosecution and trial, one U.S. official said.
The closure plan could also serve as a template for how to deal with future terrorism suspects captured in the fight against the Islamic State militant group.
However, the document will not name the alternative U.S. prisons under consideration for housing detainees, U.S. officials said. The administration wants to avoid fueling any political outcry over specific sites during a U.S. presidential election year.
Still, Pentagon officials have already surveyed a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, a military jail at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Navy brig at Charleston, South Carolina.
An effort will also be made to speed up parole-style reviews to determine whether more prisoners can be added to the group cleared for release, officials said.
The plan will include costs for upgrading U.S. facilities and housing the inmates there, according to a source familiar with the matter. The White House last year rejected one Pentagon proposal as too expensive, sending it back for revisions.
Republicans and some Democrats in Congress largely oppose proposals to move any of the prisoners to the United States.
Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte said on Monday the Obama administration refused to "level with the American people regarding the terrorist activities and affiliations of the detainees who remain at Guantanamo."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated Obama's view of Guantanamo as a terrorist "recruiting tool" and urged lawmakers to look at the plan "with an open mind," although he expressed doubt about whether they would do so.
The White House has left open the possibility that Obama might resort to executive powers to close the facility.
The prison was opened in 2002 by former Republican President George W. Bush to house foreign terrorism suspects . Cheap England Soccer Jerseys Douglas Santos Brazil Jersey Cheap Belgium Jerseys Blerim Dzemaili Switzerland Jersey Linus Wahlqvist Sweden Jersey Oscar de Marcos Spain Jersey Paul Aguilar Mexico Jersey Sebastian Rudy Germany Jersey Cheap Sweden Hockey Jerseys Cheap Team North America Hockey Jerseys