What might have been: China prays Marcello Lippi stays on after team falls just short of World Cup miracle comeback under Italian coach

After China won just one point from their first four games, Lippi delivered 11 from the next six after taking over – but the team were just edged out

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Marcello Lippi transformed China’s fortunes. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:44pm, 6 Sep 2017Updated: 10:59pm, 6 Sep 2017

China football fans were left wondering what might have been after the country’s national team fell just short of a World Cup play-off place on Tuesday night, despite the turnaround in the national team’s fortunes under Marcello Lippi.

The team needed several results to go their way and did their part by fighting back from a goal down to beat Qatar 2-1 in Doha, but South Korea’s 0-0 draw in Uzbekistan ended their hopes of sneaking into third place in the group. Syria took that spot with a last-minute equaliser in Iran.

It means yet another World Cup without China’s involvement, despite president Xi Jinping’s demand that the country become a “soccer superpower”.

China have only qualified for one World Cup, in 2002, and their path was made easier because hosts Japan and South Korea qualified automatically.

Commentators and fans in China rued the fact that Lippi – a World Cup winner as Italy manager – had not been appointed sooner, after the team began their campaign with just one point from their first four games, including a home defeat against Syria that now looks even costlier than it did at the time. Had that 0-1 scoreline been reversed, China would have finished third instead.