Fabio Cannavaro has been named head coach of the China national team, the Chinese FA have announced on their official website.
The former Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter and Napoli defender, who also captained Italy to their World Cup triumph in 2006, has been managing Chinese Super League club, Guangzhou Evergrande, since November 2017.
Cannavaro won the Chinese Super Cup with the club last season, his first trophy as a head coach but missed out on the title by five points, finishing second behind Shanghai SIPG.
He had managed the club once before for seven months between 2014 and 2015, before spells at Al-Nassr and Tianjin Tianhai.
However, has now taken his first step into international management, taking charge of the nation in which he has spent the majority of his career as a coach.
China are looking to improve on their disappointing tournament record, with an AFC Asian Cup final and a World Cup group-stage exit in 2002 the highlights, having been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the former tournament this year by Iran as Qatar eventually lifted the trophy.
