Lippi resigns, Donadoni appointed

Marcello Lippi has resigned as coach of Italy after leading his country to a fourth World Cup title. Despite widespread calls for him to stay at the helm after Italy's win over France he says the time is right to go.

"I believe that I have achieved what I set out to achieve as coach of the Italian team," Lippi declared. The 58-year-old feels he and his son, Davide, were attacked personally in the match-fixing scandal tainting Italy's domestic game.

After two years and 17 days in charge, Lippi said his decision came at the end of "an extraordinary professional and personal experience", but he did not reveal his future plans. "I want to thank the federation for the confidence it had in me during the last two years of work crowned by a result that will rest in the annals of Italian football and live on in the memory of our fans," he added.

Italian Federation vice president Giancarlo Abete said Lippi had told him during the second round of the World Cup that he intended to quit regardless of his team's performance. In a statement, Abete praised Lippi for his "extraordinary professionalism and his ability leading the team."

He was said to be tired of hearing his name mentioned in connection with the match-fixing scandal involving some of Italy's top Serie A clubs, including champions Juventus, with whom he won five Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League in two stints as coach between 1994 and 2004.

While he was not under investigation, Lippi was questioned by prosecutors before the World Cup about alleged pressure he received to select certain players for Italy's national team. Davide Lippi works at a player agency linked to the scandal and is under investigation for "illegal competition with threats and violence".

Lippi took over from Giovanni Trapattoni after Italy's poor performance at Euro 2004. In two years in charge Lippi lost just two matches - a 2-0 defeat on his debut against Iceland and a 1-0 loss in World Cup qualifying against Slovenia. But following that reverse Italy went 25 games unbeaten, a run, their longest since 1939, that culminated in a first world title since 1982 and a leap up the world rankings to second behind Brazil.



After achieving glory under Lippi, one of the most successful and experienced coaches in Europe, the Italian Football Federation turned to the inexperienced Roberto Donadoni to lead them into Euro 2008.

"We decided to bet on a youngster who could become truly great," said Demetrio Albertini, the FIGC vice-commissioner upon Donadoni's appointment at the age of 43 on 13 July, the day after Lippi ended his two-year tenure. Donadoni has been passing his knowledge on to players since 2001 when he took charge of Serie C club Lecco. He temporarily quit midway through that season before going back and leading them to a ninth-place finish.

The following season he moved on to Livorno, then of Serie B, and secured tenth place before heading to Genoa. He was sacked after three games in charge and would resurface at Livorno midway in January 2005, with the Tuscan club in the top flight. A very respectable ninth-place finish served notice of Donadoni’s potential. Things got even better in the 2005/06 campaign with Livorno up to sixth before Donadoni resigned that February following a disagreement with the club president. It would be his last job before Italy came calling.

As a player, Donadoni served Italy to distinction on 63 occasions. He twice suffered penalty heartache at two FIFA World Cups, missing in the semi-final shoot-out defeat by Argentina in 1990 and then watching as Brazil won on spot-kicks in the final four years later. At club level, Donadoni made his Serie A debut with hometown club Atalanta before joining AC Milan in 1986. He was a key component of a side which won five Serie A titles (1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996) and three European Champion Clubs' Cups (1989, 1990, 1994) under illustrious coaches such as Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Before retiring, he had spells in the United States and Saudi Arabia with New York/New Jersey MetroStars and Al Ittihad respectively.

2006 FIFA World Cup Awards

At the FIFA World Cup, the greatest, most-coveted prize is, was and always shall be the Trophy itself. However, every edition of the game’s global showpiece has its heroes in the shape of players and teams whose contributions cry out for some sort of recognition.

After all, some of the most indelible images in the tournament’s history have been provided by the likes of Eusebio, Johan Cruyff and 'Toto' Schillaci, none of whom were ever able to lay their hands on a winner’s medal, and many of the teams who thrilled us over the years won little other than the football public's affection.

This was also true at Germany 2006. The array of awards reflected that it was players such as Lukas Podolski and Zinedine Zidane who captured the imagination and that, while Spain and Brazil left without the Trophy, they returned home with plenty of new friends.


FIFA Fair Play award
Brazil & Spain They might have seen their hopes of lifting the Trophy dashed at a premature stage, but Brazil and Spain did not return home empty-handed, with each of their players picking up medals for their record of sportsmanship and good conduct during Germany 2006. This particular award is decided using a points system established by the FIFA Committee for Ethics and Fair Play, and the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) named Carlos Alberto Parreira and Luis Aragones's sides as joint-winners after they picked up a shared total of 886 from the 1,000 available.

adidas Golden Ball
Zinedine Zidane (Fra) Arguably the greatest trophy available to an individual footballer went to one of the game’s most spectacular players of the past decade. Fabio Cannavaro and Andrea Pirlo, Silver and Bronze Ball winners respectively, certainly ran him close, but despite that Final red card, Zidane undoubtedly provided some of Germany 2006’s most memorable moments, and the accredited media at the FIFA World Cup Final recognised this in their voting.

adidas Golden Shoe
Miroslav Klose (Ger) His winning tally might have been the lowest since Chile 1962, but Klose undoubtedly deserved this award having finished two clear of Hernan Crespo, Ronaldo and Thierry Henry with a tally of five goals that saw him move into third place in the list of top German goalscorers at FIFA World Cup finals.

Gillette Best Young Player
Lukas Podolski (Ger) Emerging at the head of a 40-strong field of candidates, Lukas Podolski was named the inaugural Gillette Best Young Player by FIFA’s TSG after scoring three goals and contributing boundless energy to Germany’s enthralling FIFA World Cup campaign. “This is a big motivation for myself to keep on improving in my career and to play a even better World Cup in four years' time,” said the 21-year-old after collecting his award.

Lev Yashin Award
Gianluigi Buffon (Ita) No surprises here. Gianluigi Buffon produced as close to a perfect tournament as can be humanly possible, conceding just twice during Italy’s triumphant campaign, once from a Christian Zaccardo own goal and then from Zidane’s audacious penalty in the Final. The FIFA TSG members were responsible for this decision, and so faultless was Buffon throughout the tournament that it cannot have taken them long to arrive at it.

The Most Entertaining Team presented by Yahoo!
Portugal The winners of this particular award were decided upon by FIFAworldcup.com's users, who declared that Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal had set their pulses racing more than any other team.

Mastercard All Star team
The quality of Italy’s collective and individual performances were acknowledged in Mastercard’s All Star team, with no less than seven of the Azzurri starting line-up included in a 23-man squad that also included four players each from France, Germany and Portugal. The team is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Ricardo (Portugal).
Defenders: Roberto Ayala (Argentina), John Terry (England), Lilian Thuram (France), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal).
Midfielders: Ze Roberto (Brazil), Patrick Vieira (France), Zinedine Zidane (France), Michael Ballack (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy), Francesco Totti (Italy), Luis Figo (Portugal), Maniche (Portugal).
Forwards: Hernan Crespo (Argentina), Thierry Henry (France), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Luca Toni (Italy).


2006 FIFA World Cup Awards >>>

Campioni del Mondo!

Italy's World Cup Review

[Channel 4 - Football Italia: World Cup Special]

Italy win a nation's hearts

There would be little point in asking an Italian whether he prefers a Ferrari or a Ford. Italians have always favoured flair over function, elan over efficiency, chic over competence.

True, in football, defensive solidity has been the key to Italian success, but they have always managed to lace in a player or two with the special touch of magic.

However, Italy now has a newly-crowned world champion team which has trimmed away the dash and panache to a minimum, replacing it with all the efficiency, functionality and workability of a diesel-engined people carrier.

Giuseppe Meazza is revered to this day from the team that lifted the trophy in 1934 and 1938, as is coach Vittorio Pozzo.

The beaten finalists in 1970 boasted the likes of Gigi Riva and Sandro Mazzola, the 1982 champions had Paolo Rossi as their talisman, and Marco Tardelli's celebration as their icon.

Despite possibly the worst penalty in history in the final shoot-out against Brazil in 1994, Roberto Baggio's sublime skill is still cherished in Italy, while Roberto Donadoni's trickery and Paolo Maldini's grace also decorated the Azzurri in America.

But from Germany 2006, Fabio Cannavaro will be remembered for his rock-like defending, and Gennaro Gattuso for his tireless work in midfield.

Gabriele Marcotti, the London correspondent of Corriere dello Sport says that Italians are more than willing to forgive any shortcomings in the team's flair department for success. He wrote: "There are no real stars in this team, but they have been a much more confident unit and credit for that has to go to Lippi. The players can also take credit as they adapted to the changes Lippi made as the competition went on. Some of the big name players like Francesco Totti weren't happy but were prepared to conform for the greater good of the team."

Perhaps the biggest personality to emerge from Italy's World Cup is coach Marcello Lippi, who cast the team in his own image. That is in keeping with the past, where Italian coaches have been larger than life characters, lauded or lambasted depending on their fortunes.

Pozzo remains the only man to coach teams to two World Cup victories, while 1982 winner Enzo Bearzot is held in great reverence. So what of Lippi, the cigar-chomping, cool-hand Luke?

Marcotti says: "Despite his success, Lippi isn't necessarily somebody you embrace wholeheartedly. Enzo Bearzot was a much-loved figure, but he fell out with the press before the tournament and banned the players from speaking. He won the public and the media over by winning the World Cup. Arrigo Sacchi was well-respected in 1994, but he wasn't easy to deal with and not everybody warmed to him."

Since reaching the World Cup final in Mexico in 1970, Italy have undergone a strange cycle of success. Finalists in 1970, winners in 1982, finalists again in 1994, and winners again in 2006, it is a cycle that hints it takes 12 years to build a successful Italian team.

"I think that's just coincidence," says Marcotti. "For my money, the best Italian team I've seen in my lifetime was the team that was beaten in the semi-final by Argentina in 1990. The 1982 victory was our first for 44 years and came completely out of the blue," says Marcotti, recalling a campaign as tortuous as a Dolomite mountain road where Italy scraped through from their group, but were transformed by Paolo Rossi's hat-trick in the win over Brazil.

"The popularity of the team grew as they progressed in the tournament, whereas this time I think people rallied round from the start. This was a good team going into the tournament, possibly the best-fancied of all the European teams, and let's not forget they played most of the tournament without arguably their best defender, Alessandro Nesta."

And that is another virtue of a more functional vehicle. Spare parts are easier to slot in.

Azzurri united

Marcello Lippi lit up a trademark huge cigar to celebrate Italy's World Cup win - and his confirmation as a living legend.

Jose Mourinho calls himself "The Special One", but even his achievements with Porto and Chelsea pale alongside Lippi's feats. The 58-year-old has now added the World Cup to a roll of honour that includes five Italian titles and the Champions League in 1996 with Juventus. Indeed, that record could be even better, but for three Champions League final defeats with Juve.

But when the smooth tactician with the Paul Newman looks gets time to properly reflect on Sunday's victory, he will do so safe in the knowledge that his place in football history is now assured.

This is his greatest triumph, unifying an Italy side against the backdrop of a Calciopoli scandal at home.

Lippi has, as ever, been tactically sound and has built Italy around the defensive rocks of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and the magnificent captain Fabio Cannavaro. And when Italy needed this pair against France, they delivered. Buffon produced a brilliant save from Zinedine Zidane's header, while captain Cannavaro was as outstanding in Berlin as he was in Dortmund in the epic semi-final against Germany.

There was a hint of controversy in the antics of Marco Materazzi in the build-up to Zidane's disgraceful attack on the defender - but Italy were ultimately worthy winners of a World Cup lacking a truly great team.

As World Cup winners often do, Italy grew into the tournament under the shrewd tutelage of Lippi - albeit with a stroke of luck with Francesco Totti's fortunate last-gasp penalty against Australia.

Andrea Pirlo was an outstanding midfield operator alongside the combative Gennaro Gattuso, and when moments of inspiration were needed, Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero provided them against Germany.

They overcame the loss of the hugely influential defender Alessandro Nesta, with Lippi harnessing the maverick talent of Materazzi. This feat was not without incident on a balmy Berlin night in which Materazzi gave away a penalty, headed an equaliser and appeared to provoke Zidane into violence.

This was the Italy of old, but combined with some flourishes of the new - another Lippi coaching masterclass with the biggest prize of all the result.

Argentina promised, Germany battled, but ultimately it was Italy who delivered. They fell back on old strengths to beat France on penalties, namely defensive resilience rather than attacking flair.

But the way Lippi's side responded to the blow of conceding a highly-dubious penalty hinted at the steel running through the side, and the team spirit fostered out of domestic strife.

Italy may not have been the most lavishly gifted side in the competition, but as so often they got the job done. They are a team that deserves credit - led by a coach who has few honours left to win.

FINAL: Italy v France

9 July 2006: Italy 2-1 France AET & PENS (Berlin)
Italy beat France 5-3 in a penalty shoot-out to win the World Cup after an absorbing 1-1 draw in Berlin. Fabio Grosso scored the winning penalty after France's David Trezeguet missed. Playing his last game before retiring, Zinedine Zidane's career ended in disgrace after he was sent off for crazily headbutting Marco Materazzi. Zidane had put France ahead early on with a coolly-taken chipped penalty, before Materazzi levelled with a header from an Andrea Pirlo corner. The result caps an incredible period for Italian football, with the domestic game embroiled in a corruption scandal similar to 1982 when they last won the World Cup. They have now won the competition four times, one fewer than Brazil, and it was the first time they managed to win a World Cup match on penalties after three failed attempts.



Zinedine Zidane's Penalty



Marco Materazzi


Zinedine Zidane Headbutt


Penalties


Celebrations

Celebrations with trophy

Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso, Camoranesi (Del Piero 86), Pirlo, Gattuso, Perrotta (Iaquinta 61), Totti (De Rossi 61), Toni.
France: Barthez, Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Abidal, Ribery (Trezeguet 100), Vieira (Diarra 56), Makelele, Zidane (Sent off 110), Malouda, Henry (Wiltord 107).
Ref: Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (Argentina).
FIFA man of the match: Andrea Pirlo.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]

SF: Germany v Italy

4 July 2006: Germany 0-2 Italy AET (Dortmund)
Stunning late extra-time strikes from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro del Piero took Italy into the World Cup final at Germany's expense with a 2-0 win. An absorbing semi-final seemed set for penalties until Grosso curled man of the match Andrea Pirlo's pass past Jens Lehmann with just one minute left. Del Piero then finished an Italy break with a delicate chip into the corner. Germany's Lukas Podolski earlier sent a header wide and saw a shot saved, but the hosts' Cup dreams were shattered. There were, unsurprisingly, tears among German players and fans after the extraordinary end to an enthralling encounter - in which Italy also hit the woodwork twice in extra-time. The opening 90 minutes were intriguing - but goalless - and it was in the extra period that the game truly exploded into life.

Germany: Lehmann, Friedrich, Metzelder, Mertesacker, Lahm, Borowski (Schweinsteiger 72), Ballack, Kehl, Schneider (Odonkor 83), Klose (Neuville 111), Podolski.
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Grosso, Camoranesi (Iaquinta 90), Perrotta (Del Piero 104), Gattuso, Pirlo, Totti, Toni (Gilardino 74).
Ref: Benito Archundia Tellez (Mexico).
FIFA man of the match: Andrea Pirlo.

ONE YEAR ON AS CHAMPIONS: [HOME] - [PICTURE REVIEW] - [VIDEO REVIEW]