Asian Cup 2015: China coach Alain Perrin no stranger to Australia after being looked at for Sydney FC job

IF things had gone differently, Alain Perrin could have been involved in the A-League’s development, rather than coaching against the Socceroos on Thursday.

Head coach Alain Perrin during China's training session at Perry Park ahead of the AFC Asian Cup. Pic: Josh Woning.

IF things had taken a different turn, Alain Perrin could have been heavily involved in the development of the A-League, rather than coaching against the Socceroos on Thursday.

In 2006 the 58-year-old Frenchman, now coach of China, was a candidate to replace Pierre Littbarski at Sydney FC after the German coach had quit the champions over a pay dispute, and Perrin was keen to try his hand on a new frontier.

In the end the Sky Blues opted for a certain Terry Butcher, and a very different philosophical approach. Perrin had already had some experience of Australian football by then, having signed a 20-year-old Nick Carle in 2002 for the French club Troyes, whom Perrin had coached from the French fourth division to its top flight and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

“I have been lucky to have had many good coaches [but] Alain Perrin would be the most influential,” Carle said recently. “I spent six months in France under him and learnt a lot.

“It was amazing and I learned a lot there. In hindsight, maybe I should have stuck it out a bit longer in France.”

Certainly Perrin’s reputation in France is significant – instead of Sydney FC, he took over Sochaux in 2006 and won the French Cup, then moved onto Lyon and won the league and cup double.

For the past five years though Perrin has been exploring Asian football – working for the Qatar FA coaching its Olympic team and also three different Qatari clubs, before being approach to take over a rather moribund Chinese side last February.

Head coach Alain Perrin during China's training session at Perry Park.

China sneaked into the Asian Cup as the best third-placed team across the qualifying groups, and since then Perrin has been overhauling the team - set out in a similar formation to Australia.

But throughout he has been careful to hose down expectations, even having qualified from the group and earned a tie with the hosts.

“”I think our team are not the best at this tournament,” Perrin said. “But even although we are not the best we will challenge and try to beat our opponents.

“Before we came here to play in the tournament somebody asked me what was my target and I told him my target was to win the first match.

“So for me the most important thing is to focus on the next match. For the trophy, the final match is far away.”

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: China coach Alain Perrin no stranger to Australia after being looked at for Sydney FC job