China sacked soccer coach Jose Camacho after disastrous reign

China have sacked their Spanish manager, Jose Antonio Camacho, following an embarrassing defeat by Thailand 10 days ago that sparked nationwide anger.

Camacho, a former coach of Spain, was appointed two years ago on a contract worth €2.8 million (HK$28.4 million) a year, but lost 11 of his 20 matches in charge of the side, including the 5-1 upset by Thailand in a friendly in Hefei that was China's most lopsided loss against an Asian team and their worst result at home.

Guangzhou Evergrande's World Cup-winning Italian coach Marcello Lippi was immediately linked with the job, as was Serbian Ljubisa Tumbakovic, who won the Chinese Super League twice with Shandong Luneng and currently coaches Wuhan Zall.

"Having consulted with related parties and informed coach Camacho, the authority made a primary decision of terminating the co-operation with the Spaniard," the Chinese Football Association said.

The CFA said the hunt for Camacho's successor had started, even though his severance package had not been fixed.

China Central Television's sports channel said on Sunday it was likely to cost the association more than €7 million to pay out the coach and his support staff because they still had more than 14 months left on their contracts.