Marcello Lippi

Marcello Lippi

Personal information
Full name	Marcello Romeo Lippi
Date of birth	12 April 1948 (1948-04-12)
Place of birth	Viareggio, Italy
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1963–1969	Stella Rossa Viareggio
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969	Sampdoria	0	(0)
1969–1970	Savona	21	(2)
1970–1978	Sampdoria	274	(5)
1979–1982	Pistoiese	59	(1)
Total		354	(8)
National team‡
	Italy U–23	2	(0)
Teams managed
1982–1985	Sampdoria (youth team)
1985–1986	Pontedera
1986–1987	Siena
1987–1988	Pistoiese
1988–1989	Carrarese
1989–1991	Cesena
1991–1992	Lucchese
1992–1993	Atalanta
1993–1994	Napoli
1994–1999	Juventus
1999–2000	Internazionale
2001–2004	Juventus
2004–2006	Italy
2008–2010	Italy
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 13, 2006. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of October 13, 2006

Marcello Lippi, Commendatore OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [marˈtʃɛllo ˈlippi]; born 12 April 1948 in Viareggio, Province of Lucca) is a former Italian World Cup-winning football manager and former player. He served as Italian national team head coach from 16 July 2004 to 12 July 2006 and led Italy to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was re-appointed as Italian head coach in the summer of 2008 after the disappointing performance in UEFA Euro 2008 under manager Roberto Donadoni. He was succeeded by Cesare Prandelli on June 27, 2010.

As manager he won five Serie A titles, four Italian Supercup, one Champions League, one UEFA Supercup and one Intercontinental Cup.

He was named the world's best football manager by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) both in 1996 and 1998, and world's best National coach in 2006. He was the first coach to win the most prestigious international competitions both for clubs and for national teams (the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1996 with Juventus and the FIFA World Cup in 2006 with Italy) a record now shared by Vicente Del Bosque.

In 2007 the Times included him on the list of top 50 managers of all time.

Career

Playing career

Born in Viareggio, in northern Tuscany, his professional career as a midfielder started in 1969. He spent most of his playing years with Sampdoria, where he played consecutively from 1969 to 1978, except for a year loan at Savona. In 1979 he joined Pistoiese, being part of the Arancioni 's promotion to Serie A.

Coaching career

Lippi retired from active football in 1982, at the age of 34, to pursue a coaching career. Despite never having played for Italy at senior level, Lippi gained experience playing in his country’s top flight as a central defender for Sampdoria. His rise to the top of the managerial tree also began at the Genoese club where he started as a youth-team coach. After various stints in Italy's lower divisions, became a head coach in Serie A in 1989 with Cesena. Lippi then moved on to Lucchese and Atalanta. The turning point for Lippi came in the 1993–94 season when he led Napoli to a place in the UEFA Cup. The achievement was all the more remarkable given the financial turmoil of a club still basking in the past triumphs inspired by Diego Maradona.

Lippi was now a managerial target for the top clubs with Juventus winning the race to secure his services. He won the Serie A title in his first season with a team that included Gianluca Vialli and Ciro Ferrara, a player he had coached at Napoli and who later acted as his assistant with the Azzurri.

After five highly successful seasons at Juventus, Lippi moved to Internazionale in 1999, but was sacked after the first 2000–01 matchday after having faced a lot of criticism due to his poor results in his previous season with the Nerazzurri. He was then again appointed as coach of Juventus for the 2001–02 season and managed to win two other scudetti, also leading the bianconeri to the finals of UEFA Champions League in 2003 held at Old Trafford. Juventus lost to AC Milan in a penalty shootout after both the teams failed to score during the normal time and extra time.

Unlike most of his counterparts, Lippi coach had only ever worked in his country of birth.

In March 2007, Lippi managed a Europe XI team who played Manchester United in a UEFA Celebration Match, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome and the 50th year of Manchester United's participation in European competitions. His team lost 4–3 at Old Trafford.

Italy national team

Lippi was appointed head of the Italian national team on July 2004, following a disappointing Euro 2004 campaign by Giovanni Trapattoni. The Azzurri secured their passage to the FIFA World Cup finals with relative ease and subsequent victories, such as the 3–1 victory over the Netherlands and a 4–1 win over Germany in friendly matches, which raised expectations considerably. Explosion of the 2006 Serie A scandal (Calciopoli) during the late weeks of the 2005–06 season however lowered such expectations and raised criticism towards the whole Italian football people, including Lippi, blamed because of his long-standing ties and previous history with Juventus.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Lippi led Italy all the way to the final, where they beat France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw.

After winning the World Cup Lippi stated that this was his "most satisfying moment as a coach", even after winning the Intercontinental Cup and the UEFA Champions League with Juventus.

Three days after the final, Lippi did not renew his expiring contract with the Italian Football Federation, and left his office as the coach of the Italian national team. He was succeeded by Roberto Donadoni.

Under the management of Roberto Donadoni, Italy was knocked of the 2008 European Championships at the quarter-final stage. This performance lead to Donadoni's dismissal. On 26 June 2008, Lippi was re-appointed as coach of the Italian national team

Lippi during the 2010 World Cup.

For the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Lippi selected mostly veterans of the 2006 champions, omitting younger players such as Mario Balotelli and Giuseppe Rossi, in addition to notable players such as Antonio Cassano. It was announced on May 30, 2010 that after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Lippi would step down as national coach to be succeeded by Cesare Prandelli.

Coaching philosophy

In his book Il Gioco delle Idee: Pensieri e Passioni da Bordo Campo (A Game of Ideas: Thoughts and Passions from the Sidelines), Lippi outlined his coaching philosophy. Lippi emphasizes the importance of team spirit and team unity. Lippi likens a psychologically well integrated football team to the functioning of a psychologically healthy family. On the strategic aspect of coaching, Lippi emphasizes the importance of the mutual relations between players. Players must all follow the same plan and play for each other, "not" for themselves. Lippi argues that "a group of the best players do not necessarily make for the best team." What is more important, he argues, is that the tactical plan or formation is one that allows each player to maximize (1) his utility for his teammates and (2) the expression of his full potential. Lippi also notes that the choice of tactical formation is constrained by the qualities of the players available. Thus, selecting the best possible team not only requires finding the right combination of players for the chosen formation, but also finding the right formation for the chosen players.

Honours

Club

Juventus

• Serie A (5)

• 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003

Runners up: 1996

• Coppa Italia (1)

• 1995

Runner-up (2): 2002, 2004

• Supercoppa Italiana (4)

• 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003

Runner-up (1): 1998

• UEFA Champions League (1)

• 1996

Runner-up (3):1997, 1998, 2003

• European Supercup (1)

• 1996

• Intercontinental Cup (1)

• 1996

• UEFA Cup

Runner-up (1): 1995

Internazionale

• Coppa Italia

Runner up: 2000

International

Italy national team

• FIFA World Cup (1)

• 2006

Personal

• Serie A Coach of the Year: 1997, 1998, 2003
• IFFHS The World's best National Coach: 2006
• IFFHS The World's best Club Coach: 1996, 1998
• Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 2007

External links

• Goal.com coach profile

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Louis van Gaal	UEFA Champions League Winning Coach 1995–1996	Succeeded by Ottmar Hitzfeld
Preceded by Luiz Felipe Scolari	FIFA World Cup Winning Manager 2006	Succeeded by Vicente del Bosque