Paulo Bento, 56, has been reported as a final candidate for the head coach position of the Chinese national football team.

According to Chinese media 'Sohu.com' on the 30th, the Chinese Football Association has established a policy to appoint a foreign coach, with the two final candidates being former South Korean national team head coach Bento, 56, and Felix Sanchez, 49, who led the Qatari national team in the past.

On the 14th, the Chinese Football Association dismissed head coach Branco Ivankovic, 71, after China failed to qualify for the final tournament of the 2026 FIFA North and Central American World Cup. They immediately began searching for a successor. They formed a candidate pool including foreign coaches and those from existing coaching staff, and the selected individual is Dejan Jurjevic, who led the Chinese U-20 team in February this year to the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, where they reached the quarterfinals. He is not the official head coach and will only hold the interim position.

Currently, the Chinese national team will participate in the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) under the interim management of Jurjevic, with their first match against South Korea on the 7th, followed by matches against Japan and Hong Kong.

After the East Asian Cup, Jurjevic will return to the Chinese U-20 national team.

The Chinese Football Association plans to form an official A-team coaching staff starting in September. While diligently searching for suitable candidates, Bento, who led Korea during the 2022 Qatar World Cup to the Round of 16, is mentioned as one of the leading candidates.

Bento, who took over as head coach of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) national team on July 9, 2023, was dismissed in March this year. The reason for his dismissal was concerns about the UAE's qualification for the Asian region's third World Cup qualifiers.

Previously, during the Asian Cup, the UAE under Bento did not meet expectations. Fans began to express their dissatisfaction with him starting from that time.

In the AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar in January 2024, the UAE advanced to the Round of 16 with one win, one draw, and one loss in the group stage but was eliminated after a penalty shootout against Tajikistan. It was a disappointing result compared to the semi-final achievement in 2019.

During that time, Bento faced public criticism for a decline in performance and for his selection management excluding Ali Mabkhout.

Bento oversaw a total of 26 matches in the UAE, recording 14 wins, 5 draws, and 7 losses. His winning percentage of about 53.9% was considered high among recent UAE national team coaches, but he stepped down due to the team's early exit from the Asian Cup and poor performance in the latter half of the World Cup qualifiers.

Felix Sanchez, the current head coach of Al Sadd, is considered a strong contender to compete with Bento for the next head coach of the Chinese national team.

Prior to the Chinese Football Association's selection of Ivankovic as head coach in early 2024, Sanchez was one of the three candidates for the head coach position of the Chinese national team. However, at that time, he was managing the Ecuadorian national team, and the high salary and penalty fees prevented a move to China.

Sanchez, at 49 years old, is considered relatively young and is praised for his deep understanding of Asian football.

He has served as head coach for Qatar's age-group national teams and the senior national team, leading Qatar to victory in the Asian Cup in 2019. Recently, as the coach of Al Sadd in the Qatari league, he won both the league and cup competitions. He also has experience managing at the World Cup.

There were rumors that a South Korean coach was also among the candidates. However, 'Sohu.com' reported, 'Indonesian and Korean media have stated that the Chinese Football Association is considering hiring South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong. Shin Tae-yong himself has expressed his willingness to take the position as head coach of the Chinese national team. However, according to 'Pengpai News,' he is not among the two leading candidates currently being considered by the association.'

The media added, 'Since the selection process for the Chinese national team coach involves multiple steps such as negotiations, reports, and approvals, it is expected that it will take time before an official announcement is made.'

The biggest obstacle for the Chinese national team in securing their next head coach is the lack of budget. Last week, Chinese CCTV reported, 'The budget allocated for the national team coaching staff is at the level of €1 million to €1.2 million (about 1.6 billion to 2 billion won),' stating, 'With a salary at this level, it is virtually impossible to hire a capable coach from Western Europe or Central Europe. Securing a world-class manager is even more difficult.'

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