The 71-year-old Italian World Cup winner is back as coach of China just four months after leaving.

But with qualification for Qatar 2022 beginning in September, the under-pressure veteran has little time to lose if he is to inspire China to only their second World Cup appearance. Coach could even choose to quit in case of failure of the task, but he looked confident.

"Will we qualify for the Qatar World Cup? I don't know, we will try, we will make every effort," the former Juventus, Inter Milan, Napoli and Italy coach told broadcaster CCTV5.