Highly respected Dutchman Guus Hiddink was named yesterday as the new coach of China's under-21 football team, tasked with leading the country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The 71-year-old joins another well-known veteran coach, the Italian World Cup winner Marcello Lippi, in taking a major role in China's aggressive push to finally become a force in international football. The 70-year-old Lippi has been in charge of the senior side since 2016 and has overseen marginal improvement, although China still failed to reach the World Cup in Russia and languish at 75th in the FIFA rankings. Announcing Hiddink as the under-21s boss, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said: "The main task is to go for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"In the days to come, under the leadership of Hiddink and his coaching team, the under-21 boys will pursue their Olympic dreams."