China boss Marcello Lippi admits to mistakes following his team’s mauling by Ryan Giggs’ Welsh Dragons
Italian stops short of criticising players following big loss, but says he may have got his selection wrong for opening China Cup tie
China boss Marcello Lippi declared himself “disappointed” after witnessing his Chinese revolution spectacularly derailed on a grim night for the national team in Nanning but accepted some of the blame for the mauling.
All eyes were on Real Madrid man Gareth Bale in the lead up to the match, and most of the talk was about the Welsh wizard after it following a superb hat-trick on a night when he wasn’t certain to get any playing time.
Lippi was sullen in his post-match media conference but was hopeful when discussing his side’s progress, and suggested he had made some mistakes with his team selection for the match.
“[The scoreline was] not unexpected because they are strong opponents. What was unexpected was the performance of the team,” Xinhua quoted Lippi as saying.
“I take all the responsibility. It was my mistake to call up some players that I shouldn’t have called up for these matches.”
The defeat was the sixth loss since he took charge but easily the heaviest of the 69-year-old’s time with the national team, who are currently ranked 65 in the world, their highest position since 2004.
The veteran manager named a much-changed side for the encounter but surely felt the wholesale changes wouldn’t lead to such a loss of coherence.