Description
MARCELLO LIPPI BIOGRAPHY:
Marcello Romeo Lippi Commendatore (born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italy national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and 2008, and he was succeeded by Cesare Prandelli after a disappointing performance in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Throughout his career as a manager, he won one World Cup title, five Serie A titles, three Chinese Super League titles, one Coppa Italia, one Chinese FA Cup, four Italian Supercups, one UEFA Champions League, one AFC Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup. Lippi is the first and to date the only coach to win both the UEFA Champions League and the AFC Champions League. He is also the first coach to have won the most prestigious international competitions both for clubs in different continents, and for national teams (the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1996 with Juventus; the AFC Champions League in 2013 with Guangzhou Evergrande; and the FIFA World Cup in 2006 with Italy). Lippi is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful managers in football history, and in 2007, The Times included him on its list of the top 50 managers of all time. He was named the world’s best football manager by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) both in 1996 and 1998, and world’s best National coach in 2006.