BEIJING, Aug. 14 -- China on Sunday appointed former Spanish national coach Jose Antonio Camacho as new coach in place of the incumbent domestic coach Gao Hongbo.
The experienced Spanish tactician will take helm of the Chinese squad, his second ever job with a national team, under a three-year contract after six months without coaching.
The news came only four days after the 45-year-old Gao, the youngest coach ever to lead China, saw his side edge past Jamaica 1-0 in a friendly match played in central China's Hefei on Wednesday.
Camacho, 56, coached Spain from 1998 to 2002 when the current European and world champion advanced to the quarterfinals of both Euro 2000 and 2002 World Cups.
The former Real Madrid and Benfica coach was fired from La Liga side Osasuna when the Spanish side was battling relegation in February.
Camacho, who would shoulder the Chinese hopes of making the 2017 World Cup finals, is expected to meet the national team for the first time in the southern Chinese city of Kunming on August 22, eleven days before China's Asian Zone qualifying match against Singapore.
In China's first and only appearance in the World Cup finals in 2002, the team failed to win a match or even score during the tournament, jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea.