Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Marcello lippi


Born in Viareggio in 1948, Marcello Romeo Lippi began coaching in 1982 after an exceptionally modest outfield career as a centre-back. He played for only three teams, Sampdoria, Savona and Pistoiese, and retired at the age of 34. With Samp and Pistoiese Lippi gained a Serie A footballing experience, indeed he was part of the set up in which Pistoiese played their only year of top flight football, in 1980-81. Nevertheless, after his mediocre playing career he moved into club management.

His coaching career took flight with the Blucerchiati youth team in 1982, following 11 years service as a player with the Genoese outfit. His loyalty to Sampdoria was obviously rewarded as they gave him his first break in management until he then moved on to Pontedera. From 1985 until 1989 the cigar chomping tactician frequently changed hotseats around Italy’s lower divisions. In total he coached a further four clubs after his stint at Sampdoria, until he got his big break at Cesena in 1989.

Here he received recognition, guiding them to 12th place in Italy’s premier division, then the following season they were demoted back to Serie B and by 1991, a 43-year-old Marcello Lippi moved on in his career.

Turning a page

After stints in the early 90s with were in a financial crisis, and turned to the upcoming tactician in the hope that he could restore order. In a nutshell, Napoli’s glory years in the late 1980s when Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara and Salvatore Bagni graced the Stadio San Paulo were bygone days.

In his only season at Napoli (1993-94), against the odds, he earned the Partenopei a spot in the UEFA Cup. This was the beginning that signaled a promising furture for the Tuscan master.

Marcello did not actually take part in the UEFA Cup campaign the following year as he moved on to new pastures. Juventus courted him, and it was a move which was obviously too good to refuse.

The seductive Old Lady

Probably Marcello Lippi’s most memorbale years at a club were in Turin between 1994 and 99. The image of the silky haired, calm and collected smoker, huddled up in the corner of the shelter at the Delle Alpi, with a cigar dangling from his mouth is one we’ll never forget.

His Juventus side became the masters of Italian calcio. He dominated Serie A for the remainder of the decade winning three Scudetti (1995, 1997, 1998), one Coppa Italia (1995) and a couple of Supercoppa Italianas (1995, 1997). Even on the European frontier he entered his finest hour in domestic football winning the UEFA Champions League in 1996 against Ajax on penalties, and then a year later he was second best in this club competition, losing out to Borussia Dortmund.

Nonetheless, in this stint at Juventus, Lippi established himself as one of the finest coaches in European football, winning domestic and European titles. Yet by the turn of the century Lippi was once again on the move to Internazionale in 1999.

Beaten black and blue…

With Nerazzurri, Lippi’s reign only lasted for one season. On the first matchday of the 2000-01 campaign (beginning of his second year), he was fired. A miserable stint came to an abrupt end in the world’s fashion capital with Lippi’s side finishing runners up in the Coppa Italia and finishing fourth in Serie A, 13 points behind his beloved Bianconeri.

Criticism of Lippi’s tactics, choice of players and the fact that he was managing Internazionale after moving from the enemy Juventus, was enough to seal his fate after 12 months. Indeed, despite his unpopularity he still managed a runners-up medal plus a spot four places higher in the Scudetto race then his predecessor Luigi Simoni.

At Inter it appears that Lippi received undue criticism. Prior to Lippi’s installment, in the years form 1994 until Lippi’s arrival (1999), President Massimo Moratti accumulated a total of nine sackings, and it appeared only a matter of time until Lippi was pushed into the same boat. These were definitive crisis years at Inter, and Moratti demanded immediate success, unfortunately Lippi did not deliver in his first season and was shown the door.

Love affair

Again Lippi became head coach at Juventus, his second spell which lasted three years (2001-2004). History also began to repeat itself for the coach as it was once again a highly successful spell. After the disappointment at Inter, Lippi recovered and in his period back in Turin he added two Scudetti, a UEFA Champions League runners-up medal and two Supercoppa Italianas to his trophy cabinet. This dismissed criticism that claimed Lippi’s reign as a coach was prematurely over.

Unfortunately he had to swallow the bitter taste of losing another UEFA Champions League final, in Manchester, against AC Milan in 2003. Nonetheless, they lost on the lottery of penalties and Lippi’s boys headed back to Italy with their heads held high.

Undoubtedly in Lippi’s career he has stuck to his game-plan and his rigid tactics. Along the way he has deployed a strong ethic of man management, a leader who is also “one of the lads”. Close relationships forged with figures such as Antonio Conte, Ciro Ferrara, Alex Del Piero and Gianluca Zambrotta enabled a degree of high success, and this continued when he bossed the Azzurri, commencing in 2004.

Campione del mondo

The suave tactician took charge of his beloved Italy in July 2004. His appointment came about after Giovanni Trappatoni’s failure at World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004.

Marcello got off to a flying start in his new job, and indeed won a relatively easy qualifying group, the main challengers being Norway and Scotland. Nonetheless, Lippi duly delivered, winning 76% of his qualifying matches and finishing top of Group Five with 23 points in 10 games, and losing only once in Slovenia.

Due to the “Calciopoli” scandal brewing back at home, the Italians turned up at the World Cup in Germany with relatively low expectations, as players were believed to be more worried about their future security at their clubs (Juventus’ eventual demotion, Lazio and Milan’s penalization etc). However, this masterful tactician managed to turn despair into victory and the Italians did not lose a game the whole tournament, and on the July 9, 2006 the Italians were crowned world champions for the fourth time.

Now, Lippi is Italian National Team " allenatore " for Worldcup 2010 South Africa.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Jose Mourinho


Jose Mourinho was born on January 26th 1963 in Setubal, Portugal. His father was of an international goalkeeper, but unfortunately Jose was not blessed with the same natural ability. So instead of pursing career as a player. Jose decided to become a football manager.

In 1986 he enrolled in a Physical Education College. After graduating, he gradually worked his way up the soccer ladder working with minor clubs such as Vitoria Setubal and Estrela Amadora.

His big break came when he was appointed translator to Sir Bobby Robson when the Englishman became manager of Sporting Lisbon. Robson and Mourinho became close and Jose quickly Bobby's right hand man.

Sir Bobby moved to FC Porto in 1993, and of course he took Jose with him. The unlikely duo took Porto to two Portuguese League Championships over the next three years.

in 1996 the Bobby and Jose show moved on to FC Barcelona but when Robson moved to PSV Eindhoven a year later, Mourinho decided to remain at the Spanish giants.

In 2000 Jose was finally given the opportunity to manage his own side when Portuguese side Benfica offered him the top job. Jose then moved on to Uniao de Leiria before becoming FC Porto boss in January 2002.

In less than two years, Mourinho helped Porto win the Uefa Cup, the Portuguese League Championship and the Portuguese League Cup. In 2003-2004 Mourinho managed to surpass the previous season by winning the biggest prize in club football, The European Champions League.

In 2005 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich decided that Jose was the man to bring success to Chelsea. And he was right. Since becoming manager, Jose has led the London team to consecutive Premiership titles as well as several other trophies.

On 2 June 2008, Mourinho was appointed the successor of Roberto Mancini at FC Internazionale on a three-year contract with Scudetto title in 2008 and Supercoppa Italia 2008

Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello is an Italian , as well as a former professional player. He was recently named as the next coach of England’s national team on December 14, 2007 with deal worth an annual £6.5 million

Capello was born in Pieris, Italy, in 1946, and made his debut as a player in 1964 with SPAL, where he spent three seasons and then become AS Roma player, where he won Italian Cup. He was later sold to Juventus, where he played during the 1970’s. He also played for Italy, and achieved notoriety by scoring a goal for Italy in 1973 to help defeat England at Wembley for the first time ever. He ended his playing career in 1980 with AC Milan.

Sir Alex Ferguson


Sir Alex Ferguson, an eminent football manager, was born to Alexander and Elizabeth on December 31, 1941 in Glasgow, Scotland. He married Cathy and they have three sons; Mark and twins, Darren and Jason. Of his sons, only Darren has followed his father’s profession and is the manager of the Peterborough United FC.

Sir Alex Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history – winning more than 30 trophies during his time in charge of the Reds. Yet despite more than two decades at the United helm he remains focused on increasing that tally, bringing yet more silverware to Old Trafford.

On November 6, 1986, Sir Alex Ferguson took up as the manager of Manchester United. After a few initial disappointments from players, he came back with a bang when his team won the League Cup during 1991-92 and the Premier League in 1992-93. His team-building tactics, by bringing-in talent from other teams to the Red Devils’ squad showed remarkable results. Sir Alex Ferguson worked with talented players like Dwight Yorke, Ryan Giggs, Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjær and won the memorable the FA Cup Final against Newcastle United (2-0) in 1998-99. In that season, the Red Devils’ squad also bagged the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup. Under the efficient coaching of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United won the Premier League (10 times), the FA Cup (5 times), the League Cup twice, the FA Charity/Community Shield (8 times), the UEFA Champions League twice, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup once each.


In 1983, Sir Alex Ferguson was honoured in 1983 with an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), for his service to football. He received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1995 and the Knight Bachelor in 1999. In recognition to his achievements with the Manchester United FC, Sir Alex Ferguson was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.


Being the most successful league manager, Sir Alex Ferguson became the Football Association (FA) Premier League Manager of the Year, 8 times (1993-94, 1995-97, 1998-2000, 2002-03, 2006-08). In 1996, he received the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Tribute Award for his success with the Red Devils’ team. By winning the FA Premier League Manager of the Month, 21 times, Sir Alex Ferguson became the only manager in the history of English football to have accomplished such a feat. He received the League Managers Association (LMA) Manager of the Year in 1998-99, 2007-08 and the LMA Manager of the Decade for the 1990s. When the Red Devils’ walked away with the UEFA Champions League in 1998-99, the coach of the team, Sir Alex Ferguson was awarded the UEFA Champions League Manager of the Year for that season.


For his commendable contribution to the game of football, Sir Alex Ferguson received a number of awards in 1999, including, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award, BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award, World Soccer Magazine Coach of the Year, Mussabini Medal, International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Club Coach of the Year and Onze d’Or Coach of the Year. Sir Alex Ferguson was conferred the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year (2000) and BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.


The year 2007 was yet another successful year for the winning manager of the Manchester United FC, Sir Alex Ferguson, who went on to claim the World Soccer Magazine Coach of the Year, the Professional Footballers’ Association Merit Award and Onze D’Or Coach of the Year.