The Hindu : Sport : Marcello Lippi: a master tactician

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 12, 2006

Sport

Sport

Marcello Lippi: a master tactician

Richard Williams

Berlin: The story about Marcello Lippi succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford was slapped down as soon as it appeared last week, but its ring of authenticity was supplied by the belief that Ferguson rates Lippi above all other managers of his generation. His admiration will be redoubled now that Lippi has become the third manager to guide Italy to football's supreme trophy.

Lippi and Ferguson enjoyed a good-natured rivalry in the days when their Juventus and Manchester United were regular adversaries in the later rounds of the Champions League. The Scot admired not just the Italian's gifts as a coach but also the sense of style with which he conducted his business.

An actress's approval

The 58-year-old Lippi conveys a worldly elegance which had the actress Monica Bellucci cooing her approval last week, comparing his appeal to that of the veteran actor Paul Newman.

The substance beneath Lippi's style was in evidence throughout Italy's successful campaign in Germany. Two years ago he took over a squad demoralised by Giovanni Trapattoni's unhappy tenure and imbued the players with a new sense of pride and purpose. For the last month none of the 32 teams at the World Cup has been guided by a surer hand.

To visit the Italian camp in Duisberg was to get an idea of the thoughtful approach that Lippi and the football association's management team had brought to bear on their project. Duisberg is an unprepossessing place: almost entirely flattened by Allied bombs 60 years ago, it retains the air of an abandoned restoration. But the region also contains thousands of Italian immigrants, a high proportion of them drawn from the country's poor south by the prospect of regular employment.

In this place, where the Ruhr and the north Rhine coincide, Italy's footballers found a welcome. The squad's modest hotel, owned and run by an Italian, and their humble training ground became the focal points for gatherings of devoted supporters. Throughout the town, Italian flags hung alongside those of Germany.

As far as one could see, Duisberg contained no shops selling Prada leisurewear or those jewel-encrusted watches on which the players of the English Premiership prefer to lavish their earnings. There was nothing for the Italian players to do but concentrate on the job for which they had come.

Vindication

Since Lippi took the job he has found no shortage of people willing to give him advice and anxious to dispute his decisions. Only victory in Berlin, for instance, has justified his insistence on sticking by Francesco Totti, the 29-year-old playmaker whose self-inflicted disasters had previously damaged the Azzurri's chances at several major tournaments. Totti rewarded Lippi's faith when he stepped up to convert a dubiously awarded penalty kick in the fourth minute of stoppage-time against Australia.

Only one moment of nerveless brilliance, to go with an entire catalogue of muffed free-kicks and opaque passes. But, what a moment.

Lippi's skills as a tactician were most clearly displayed in the 2-0 victory over Germany in the semifinal, by common consent the best match of the tournament. Italy was clearly the more accomplished side, but Germany's spirit and clarity kept them in with a shout until Lippi, probably with penalties in mind, introduced three forwards. Two goals in the last three minutes of the match were the proper reward for 120 minutes of relentless effort.

A crucial factor

It should be remembered, too, that Lippi had to cope with the absence for much of the competition of Alessandro Nesta, a rival to Fabio Cannavaro for the title of the world's best defender. So now he joins Vittorio Pozzo (1934 and 1938) and Enzo Bearzot (1982) in the pantheon of those who have brought the World Cup to Italy. The manner of Zinédine Zidane's dismissal may have added an indelible stain to a neutral's memory of this year's final, but few Italians will pause to worry about that.

Lippi's men were the best team in the competition, and he was the canniest coach.

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