Legendary Italian Manager Marcello Lippi Done With Coaching
Italy's World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi has announced his retirement from management.
Lippi is regarded as one of the greatest and most successful managers in football history and leaves a three-and-a-half decade long illustrious career in the dugout.
Lippi has been without a job since he resigned from his position as China's national team manager in November 2019.
Lippi didn’t say he was completely done with football and hopes to ‘be useful in other roles’ in the future.
“I’m definitely done with the coaching job,” Lippi told Radio Sportiva. “That’s right, it’s enough".
“Maybe I could be useful in other roles, let’s see. But nothing until spring.”
The former Italian international sweeper started as the U19 coach of Sampdoria in 1982 and had stints with Pontedera, Siena, Pistoiese, Carrarese, Cesena, Lucchese before joining Atalanta in 1992. He would join Napoli a year later and his memorable spell at Naples earned him a move to Juventus.
He guided the Old Lady to five Scudetti, one Champions League title, one Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italianas, UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup across two stints.
He had a brief year-long tenure at rivals Inter Milan in 1999/2000 before returning to Turin in 2001 after a one-year hiatus from management.
Marcelo Lippi's stellar career
Marcello Lippi served as Italy's head coach from 16 July 2004 to 12 July 2006 and led the Azzuri's to glory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He was re-appointed as an Italian national team head coach in the summer of 2008 and resigned after their group-stage exit at the 2010 World Cup.
Lippi took charge of Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande in 2012 in a deal worth €30 million and claimed three Chinese Super League titles, the Chinese FA Cup, Chinese FA Super Cup, and the club's maiden AFC Champions League trophy.
Lippi however struggled in his second stint in charge of China's national team and announced his shock resignation in November last year after a disappointing loss against Syria in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers.
In 2007, The Times included him on its list of the top 50 managers of all time. He is also the only manager to win the UEFA and the AFC Champions Leagues. He was named the world's best football manager by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) twice in 1996 and 1998, and the world's best National coach in 2006.