China soccer coach Arie Haan has confirmed the end of his contract following the team's World Cup elimination and laid some of the blame for the result on China's scandal-plagued professional league.
China's 7-0 demolition of Hong Kong on Wednesday was not enough to send them through to the next round of Asian qualifiers after Kuwait's 6-1 victory over Malaysia.
Dutchman Haan told China Central Television (CCTV) he would return to his home in Germany next week.
"It's very sad for the development of Chinese football, on the other hand, I think it even was a good year," he said.
"They have to go on, to start at zero again."
The outgoing coach, a midfielder in the great Dutch teams of the 1970s that reached two World Cup finals, laid some blame for the result on the recent scandals tarring China's top professional league.
"Of course it's had an influence on the national team, the players," he told CCTV.
"A lot of players are not being paid, a lot of players don't want to play because they're not satisfied with the circumstances, the referees."
In October, seven clubs complained that corruption in the new Chinese Super League was rife and threatened a boycott but stood down after meeting for emergency talks with the China Football Association (CFA).
The clubs blame the state-run CFA for failing to crack down on the so-called "black whistles", or bribed referees.
Haan had acknowledged before the match that his contract with the CFA would be terminated if China failed to go through.
After initially saying he felt "empty inside" after the loss, Haan later expressed some pride about his two-year tenure with China, particularly this year.
"This year, we only lost two matches. In the final of the Asia Cup, we lost to Japan, and afterwards we lost to Kuwait," he was quoted as saying by the Xinhua new agency.
"That should not be considered a bad result. We only came one goal short."
China, who made their World Cup finals debut in 2002, needed to score two more goals than Kuwait but fell agonisingly short in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
With the future of the league unclear, Wednesday's crushing disappointment led newspapers around the country to proclaim the death of Chinese soccer.
"Chinese football kills itself," ran a headline in the Beijing Youth Daily.
CFA officials refused to finger Haan for the failure and insisted he was not being made a scapegoat.
"As a coach Haan is diligent and modest. He has made a contribution to Chinese football," CFA vice president Yang Yimin told Xinhua on Thursday.
