Saturday,
July 08, 2006
Marcello
Lippi, coach of the Azzurri's credits the extreme
Teamwork and Team Spirit for the successes of
this years Azzurri.
The
Team has high respect for Lippi's technical merits, but also for
his qualities of humbleness, brains, experience and intelligence.
But
what people notice most about Lippi, is that he has
taken
Fox
News
Associated
Press
July
8, 2006
There
are no individual stars on the field, just a huge amount of team spirit.
With
"Beyond his
technical merits, he has qualities that I've never seen in anyone else,"
goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said Friday. "A lot of people said before that
a coach who has led a club like he has couldn't win the World Cup.
"But with a
bit of humbleness, brains, experience and intelligence, all traits he's shown
he possesses, I think you can do great things."
In eight seasons
at Juventus before taking over
What seems to
most separate Lippi from his predecessors is his attacking instinct.
Lippi had four
forwards on the field, two as midfielders, when
For a team that
was once famous for its lockdown "catenaccio"
defense - in which the entire team retreated in front of its goal and attempted
to score only on counterattacks - this was a major development.
"They were
the ones with the catenaccio, not us. That was an
important signal Lippi gave us,"
For the most
part, Lippi refuses to discuss individual members of his team or explain his
lineup choices, even after games. He quickly loses his temper when a reporter
even hints at a tactical question.
"If I tell
you the lineup beforehand, you'll go down and ask one of the poor guys that's
left out how he feels and you'll take half of one of his words and create
controversy," Lippi said before Italy's second-round win over Australia,
swearing and climbing halfway out of his chair at one point as if he was going to
walk out of a new conference.
Midfielder
Gennaro Gattuso appreciates Lippi's straightforward
approach.
"On a
personal level, he always tells things straight to people's faces," Gattuso said. "Sometimes it bothers people, but in the
locker room he's been able to obtain everyone's respect. This team really
reflects the personality of its coach."
Even the media
are starting to come around and support Lippi. But they continue to report that
Lippi has already made up his mind to leave the national team after the World
Cup, with Manchester United the latest supposed destination.
Several players
have also said they hope Lippi doesn't go.
"We hope
he's received the message from the team and stays," Cannavaro
said.
One of Lippi's
role models is Enzo Bearzot, who coached
"Lippi has
shown himself to be a great leader of men, and that comes ahead of the fact
that he's a great technical coach of a very strong team," Bearzot told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "He's worked very hard for two years and
now he's reaping the fruits of his labor, in very difficult conditions, I might
add."
Lippi personally
had to answer prosecutor's questions about alleged pressure he received to
select certain players, and his son was placed under investigation for his
position in a player agency involved in the scandal.
Team manager
"He built
the motor that's held this boat together on those days that seemed like they
would never end," Riva said. "He completely isolated the team."
Riva's analogy is
appropriate for Lippi, who lives on the Tuscan coast and is an avid fisherman.
Lippi liked to
joke before the World Cup that he would tell his fishing friends to start the
motor on his boat before every game, so he could hurry back and escape out to
sea if
"Rest
assured. No one ever turned the motor on," Lippi said Wednesday, a day
after
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