Credits Getty Images - Mike Egerton
Marcello LIPPI
Category
“Fair Play”
Sport
FOOTBALL
He made his debut in Serie A as a player, in the ranks of Sampdoria. In 9 seasons with the blue-circled team he collected 274 appearances in the championship and 5 goals. In 1982, left football, he began his career as a coach, with the youth teams of Sampdoria.
He was called for the first time to coach a top team: Juventus. In his first season on the Bianconeri bench he brought back to Turin the scudetto, that had been missing for 9 years. Thus began a historic partnership for the club, which ended 10 years later with a total of 13 trophies won, both nationally and internationally (including a Champions League). In 1997 he was among the winners of the first edition of the Fair Play Menarini International Award.
He succeeded Giovanni Trapattoni as coach of the Italian national team. Under his guidance, Italy wouldl become World Champion for the fourth time in its history, beating France in the final at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
He moved to the bench of the Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande, with whom he won the national championship and the Asian Champions League, becoming the first coach in the world to win the top competitions organized by two different confederations. In 2016 he was called to coach the Chinese national team.