I believe that Chinese fans are very familiar with Lippi, who has coached Guangzhou Evergrande Club, the former hegemon of the Chinese Super League, and has twice served as the head coach of the Chinese national team, although the old man failed to help China enter the World Cup again, but his contribution to Chinese football is indelible.
Marcello Lippi (born April 12, 1948 in Viareggio, Italy) is a former Italian male professional footballer and coach, who was the head coach of the Chinese men's national football team.
Lippi played as a scavenger as a player and debuted in the youth academy of Red Star Viareggio in Italy. From 1969 to 1979, Lippi played for Sampdoria in Serie A, where he captained. After that, Lippi played for Pistoise and Luckese. In 1982, Lippi officially announced his retirement.
Lippi began his coaching career with the Sampdoria youth team in 1982. He has coached in many clubs such as Pentedra, Siena, Cesena, Atalanta and Napoli.
In 1994, Lippi became the head coach of Juventus Football Club. In 1996, Lippi led Juventus to the Champions League. Lippi was named the 1996 IFFHS World Club Coach of the Year. Although he led Juventus to the Champions League final in the next two seasons, he lost to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid and was unable to defend the title.
In 1999, Lippi moved to Inter Milan.
In 2001, Rippi returned to Juventus to coach and later led Juventus to two Serie A titles. In the 02-03 season, Lippi led the Bianconeri to the Champions League final again, but AC Milan were the ultimate winners.
In June 2004, Lippi became the head coach of the Italian national team. In June 2006, Lippi led the Italian national team to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Two of the heaviest championship trophies in the world, Lippi is in his pocket! In addition to these two titles, Lippi has also helped Juventus win the Serie A title on several occasions.
In May 2012, Lippi became the head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande Football Club in the Chinese Super League.
In 2013, Lippi led Guangzhou Evergrande to the Asian Champions League. It was also the first AFC Champions League title for a Chinese club. In 2014, Lippi achieved his third consecutive Chinese Super League title at Guangzhou Evergrande.
On October 22, 2016, Lippi officially became the head coach of the Chinese men's national football team. Although he was unable to turn the tide and bring China to the World Cup in Russia, he also gave Chinese fans a classic match such as a 1-0 victory over South Korea.
In January 2019, Lippi resigned as head coach of the Chinese national team. In May, Lippi returned to coach the Chinese national team. In November, Lippi resigned again as head coach of the Chinese national team.
In October 2020, Lippi announced the end of his coaching career.
Starting with 1982, when he took up the coaching whip, Lippi spent 37 years as a coach. He has coached 12 clubs, the most successful of which is that he led the Bianconeri to five Serie A titles, and led the Bianconeri to the Euro Championship in the 95-96 Champions League final. In the 2006 World Cup, Lippi's Azzurri defeated France on penalties and eventually lifted the Hercules Cup. In China, Lippi led Guangzhou Evergrande to win three consecutive Chinese Super League championships and won the first Asian Super League championship after the restructuring of the Asian Champions League.
Lippi's experience is legendary enough and successful enough. He also proved to us that the failure of Chinese football has little to do with the head coach. Finally, I wish the legendary manager all the best.