NANNING, China, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Head coach of Uzbekistan national football team Hector Raul Cuper says he's ready to beat Fabio Cannavaro's Chinese team at the 2019 China Cup.

"If I meet him on the football field as a football coach, of course I will try to beat him," Cuper said on Wednesday.

"I remember him as an excellent football player. He used to complete all the tasks given by the head coach and now he gives the tasks to players as a head coach," added Cuper, who coached Cannavaro at Inter Milan 15 years ago.

Cuper said he didn't expect Cannavaro to be the head coach for team China.

"Everybody tries to improve. If Cannavaro save all these great characters as a football player and add some of the important coach features, in this case, he will be a great teacher and we wait for him," he said.

Uzbekistan will take on Uruguay on March 22 while China will meet Thailand on Thursday at the China Cup.