Football
Michael Church, Asia correspondent 7y

Gregorio Manzano: No official approach over China coach vacancy

Shanghai Shenhua coach Gregorio Manzano has said he has not been contacted by the Chinese Football Association about the national team vacancy.

Speculation is growing that Manzano is a candidate to take over from Gao Hongbo, who resigned last week after picking up one point from China's first four matches in the final phase of World Cup qualifying.

However, the Spaniard, who joined Shenhua at the start of the year after two seasons at Beijing Guoan, stressed his focus remained on Shanghai.

"I haven't received any formal invitation from the Chinese Football Association," he said after his side's draw with Henan Jianye on Sunday.

"All I can think about at the moment is the rest of the CSL season. I won't think about any other clubs or federations at the moment.

"I am just like you, I have heard all of these rumours on the internet, but my first priority is to finish the season by taking Shanghai Shenhua into the Asian Champions League next year."

His hopes of doing so were dented by the draw, which leaves Shenhua just three points ahead of city rivals Shanghai SIPG with three games remaining.

"We couldn't hold on to the lead and that was a shame," Manzano said. "There are three rounds to go but, theoretically, we could have been in the Asian Champion League if we had won this one.

"Now we only have to win one out of three games to guarantee our Asian Champions League slot. Even if we lose two, we can still make it."

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