After an AFC Champions League victory over Japan's Kashiwa Reysol, chairman Xu says rumors are false

The chairman of Guangzhou Evergrande denied a report linking the defending Chinese Super League champion with Italian coach Marcello Lippi, after the team won against Japan's Kashiwa Reysol in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday.

"If he had come, it would have been true. But now you see that he did not come, and that it is a rumor," Xu Jiayin said.

A recent report in Corriere dello Sport said the 63-year-old Italian had agreed to a deal worth 10 million euros ($13.1 million) a year to coach the club.

"You reporters, and fans as well, should not believe the rumor, which will damage our efforts in the run-up to both the domestic and Asian champions competitions," Xu said on Wednesday.

Xu made the remarks after a ceremony launching the recruitment of students for a school run by the club and Spanish giant Real Madrid in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province.

"Lee Jang-soo is currently doing well in his coaching job with the club." Xu said.

Guangzhou Evergrande - which made headlines last year when it signed Dario Conca to a deal that reportedly made him one of the world's highest-paid players - has a three-year contract with the South Korean coach.

"We are now in a critical time both in the Chinese league and the Asian Champions League," Xu said. "We don't want to be bothered by rumors."

The defending CSL champion is currently second in the domestic league and has seven points to lead Group H of the Asian Champions League after a 3-1 victory over Kashiwa Reysol on Tuesday night at Tianhe Stadium.

Lee was on the hot seat after the team lost a domestic league game against rival Guangzhou R&F on March 16, and then fell to Thai club Buriram United in the Asian Champions League less than a week later.

Other international coaches, including Sven-Goran Eriksson and Guus Hiddink, have also been floated recently as possible replacements for Lee.

Xu said the club hopes to at least make the final eight of the Asian Champions League this season.

"We attached more importance to the Asian competition this season," he said. "And we have set a goal of claiming the Asian Champions League title within five years."

Xu encouraged the team to go all-out to defeat Kashiwa Reysol on Tuesday night.

"We are now not only representing Guangzhou, but China, in the Asian Champions League," he said. "So winning the game is a big deal for Chinese soccer fans."

Lee said the team needs to take every game seriously.

"As I said before, the result in this group will not be decided until the last match and we must be serious about the upcoming games," he said.

The home side broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Conca confidently scored a penalty created by Brazilian striker Muriqui. The Japanese side came up with an equalizer in the 49th minute by Hirofumi Watanabe.

Muriqui then hammered Kashiwa Reysol with two more late goals in the second half, leaving the Japanese side two points off the pace at the bottom of the table.

"Today in the second half we made some changes and created open space and we took advantage of it," Lee said. "If we had not worked harder after the equalizer, the result would have been different."

With South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors winning 3-2 against Buriram United to join the Thai winners at six points, Guangzhou moved a point clear at the top of group H with two games remaining.

Guangzhou will play at home against the South Korean team on May 1, with its last match away against the Thai club on May 15.

"Now we are thinking about the next home match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors -we need only one victory to move into the knockout competition," Lee said.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn