Lippi Feeling Heat as Some Call for a new Italy Coach
Italy coach Marcello Lippi’s possible involvement in a match-fixing scandal that has hit Italian football has led to some in the country to call for his resignation just three weeks ahead of the World Cup. “Lippi has got to go,” was the headline in Il Manifesto Sunday. “It’s the least we can do to restore credibility to our football team. If this isn’t done, we should all support our first round opponents at the World Cup - Ghana, the United States and the Czech Republic.”
I find it unlikely that people in Italy are rushing out to purchase Ghana kits right about now.
I also find it just as unlikely that Lippi will be forced out this close to the World Cup. The scandal is an embarrassment for Italian football and there will undoubtedly be extra scrutiny on the Azzurri in Germany, but to dump the coach, who hasn’t been formally charged with anything yet, at this stage in the game just seems like a disaster waiting to happen.
The big question is whether any of this will affect Italy’s performance in Germany. Jay, our Italy blogger, thinks it won’t make any difference. There is also some thought that it might help the team because it will take attention away from the players.
I’m not sure if this is the case now that Lippi is involved, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on this in the coming weeks to see how it all plays out. Who would have thought that three weeks before the World Cup we’d be talking about Italy replacing its coach?
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Comments
By Jules | May 21st, 2006 at 12:26 pm 
Ridiculous, the owner or writer of that newspaper is stupis and should be hung.
By rescorpione17 | May 21st, 2006 at 4:33 pm i am italian read avidly newspapers from Italy nowadays it is all about this so called “Calciocaos” whatever Lippi has been questioned for is not a crime he only received calls for Moggi(who is a real crook!) GM at Juventus for having or not having Juve players on national team all these years as a Coach Lippi always showed integrity ..he admitted to talk to moggi but also said that a lot of team owners and coaches would call him about similar matters only nobody else would listen to those calls …so it is all preposterous now that zeloats are calling for a reform of the sistem and go to extremes…. after all in Italy for the same reasons some peolple are elected Prime minister and others go to jail…i say that if the “Zealots”win and Lippi steps down the players not only will not feel less distracted but also feel not protected ..it would a huge mess and at the point i wouldn’t bet a penny on Italy even to go 2nd stage ..it is just soo stupid !
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United States
By Raheel | May 21st, 2006 at 4:40 pm The Moggi controversy has seemingly engulfed the entire Soccer setup in Italy, the Azzuri team being no exception. I fear Juve are heavily involved in the scandal along with atleast 3 other Serie A clubs. While investigators are questioning the high-ranking officials involved with Italian footall, no serious evidence has been uncovered, save for the tapes of telephonic conversations. These revelations uncover the extent of corruption present in the Italian Soccer system. Coming on the eve of a World Cup, I suspect that calls for the sacking of Lippi , who has only been questioned as part of investigation procedure ,would disrupt the squad’s concentration and preparation for the main event. Inspite of the muck swirling Italian football , I will be backing the Azzuri to do well.
Posted from 
India
By Vin | May 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 am Great. (sarcasm) Our own media is now sabotaging us.
Nothing could make me cheer for our opponents, and I hop that all of the other fans feel the same way.
Posted from United States
By rescorpione17 | May 22nd, 2006 at 7:50 am TO EVERYONE ! AT 8:30 NYC TIME IT IS NOW OFFICIAL THAT THE EMERGENCY COMMISSIONER GUIDO ROSSI (WHO IS THE ONE WHO WILL DECIDE MANY CHANGES IN ITALIAN CALCIO) LEFT LIPPI FULLY IN CHARGE OF THE TEAM SENDING A VERY STRONG MESSAGE OF SUPPORTPRAISING HIM FOR HIS EXCELLENT JOB SO FAR AND WISHING ALL THE BEST FOR WORLS CUP.. ALSO STATING ONCE FOREVER THAT BEING MENTIONED OR QUESTIONED IN AN INVESTIGATION IS NOT A CRIME YET !SO EVERYONE ELSE HAS TO STOP DAMAGING THE PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL FIGURE OF LIPPI! GREAT NEWS !! SOME ITALIANS WILL OBVIOUSLY DISAGREE ….FOR THEIR IDEOLOGIES THEY WOULD MAKE OTHER PEOPLE SUFFER INJUSTICE RATHER THAN SAY I WAS WRONG !
Posted from United States
By Mundey.... | July 10th, 2006 at 7:03 am We MALDIVIAN are Ready to Celebrate the GRATE ACHIEVEMENT……… Mr. Lippi,……..Sure now you have time, so could you please come & experience the deference..
we believe now really you need take a RELAX… my GOD this is a BEST PLACE in the WORLD, once again remind you and you’re GREAT TEAM were READY TO SERVED you… =Mundey. From The PARADISE in the world=
Posted from 
Maldives
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