QINGYUAN, South China, Feb. 28 -- Chinese Football Association (CFA) will announce later Friday the appointment of French Alain Perrin as new head coach of the Chinese national soccer team, a CFA official has confirmed.

"I can confirm that Perrin is the new coach and he already arrived at Qingyuan last night," said the official who asked not to be named. "He will make his first appearance in the press conference this afternoon."

The CFA sent a text message to the Xinhua reporter Thursday night, saying "CFA will hold a press conference in Qingyuan at 3:00PM next afternoon".

The message said nothing but the time and place of the meeting.

Even national team players did not have any knowledge about the new coach when asked by Xinhua on Wednesday evening.

Perrin, 57, helped Lyon take the seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title and had also won the French Cup in 2008.

"We hope the new coach could raise the team to a new height," Wei Jixiang, CFA vice president told Xinhua.

The Chinese team arrived at the small city in north Guangdong on Wednesday afternoon and began their preparation for the final match against Iraq in the Asian Cup qualifiers next Wednesday in Dubai.