Marcello Lippi looked back over the 2006 World Cup triumph, Zinedine Zidane and penalty shoot-outs.
The former Italy Coach sat down with Gazzetta TV and said he feels for current boss Antonio Conte.
“In qualifiers we had beaten some pretty mediocre sides, so I asked to organise friendlies against important national teams.
“We played in Holland and won 3-1, while in Florence against Germany we were 3-0 up after 15 minutes. That’s when the team really believed in itself.
Marcello Lippi looked back over the 2006 World Cup triumph, Zinedine Zidane and penalty shoot-outs.
The former Italy Coach sat down with Gazzetta TV and said he feels for current boss Antonio Conte.
“In qualifiers we had beaten some pretty mediocre sides, so I asked to organise friendlies against important national teams.
“We played in Holland and won 3-1, while in Florence against Germany we were 3-0 up after 15 minutes. That’s when the team really believed in itself.
“In 2006 it was one of the last times we had a certain quality in the squad, thinking of Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Pirlo and Gigi Buffon.
“It is also important to note that in those two years I could choose from 65 per cent of the Serie A players. Now Conte can only choose from 35 per cent who are Italian.”
The Nazionale won the 2006 World Cup in a penalty shoot-out and Lippi revealed some intriguing back-story.
“I had three fantastic and completely different experiences on penalties. In the first, Juventus beat Ajax in the Champions League Final in Rome. We’d had a great performance and all the players looked me in the eyes with the expression of someone who wanted to take a penalty.
“In Manchester for the 2003 Champions League Final against Milan, we hadn’t played particularly well. When I had to decide the penalty takers, all the players were looking around at each other.
“When David Trezeguet said he could take one, I actually thanked him.”
Trezeguet missed that day, handing the trophy to Milan, but also failed to score for France in the 2006 World Cup Final.
“In Berlin I was convinced we’d win against France, as they couldn’t get the rub of the green every single time.
“The lads, and I noticed this, all wanted to take a kick. When it came to Trezeguet I thought he owed me something and in fact he missed!”
Zidane didn’t get the chance to take part in the shoot-out, as he was sent off for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the chest.
“I don’t think his red card influenced the result at all,” assured Lippi. “There were only a few minutes left and we were all thinking about the penalties. Besides, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol took penalties and scored, so it’s not as if Zidane would’ve taken one instead of Trezeguet.”
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