Lippi keeping faith in old guard

Posted Monday, April 12, 2010 by FIFA.com

In the Nazionale’s most recent friendly match, which ended 0-0 against Cameroon, Lippi sprung something of a surprise by experimenting with a three-man backline, thus giving his team the option of switching to 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-3 should the need arise. “After a game for which I was missing six or seven key players and in which I gave debuts to two youngsters, everybody was saying that we looked a long way off the pace,” said the Italy supremo.

“You can’t compare it to our warm-up match from March 2006 when we beat Germany, because we had a full-strength side then. Against Cameroon we had to send out an improvised team because of all the absentees. I’m satisfied with what I saw.”

Those looking for bad omens have also unearthed common themes between Lippi’s side and the team under Enzo Bearzot, which triumphed at Spain 1982 only to exit at the second-round stage of Mexico 1986. Another bone of contention is a perceived failure to acknowledge the shortcomings exposed at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, where the world champions fell at the first hurdle following 1-0 and 3-0 group defeats against Egypt and Brazil respectively.

“Have some faith in your team,” was the message from the former Juventus and Inter Milan boss. “We’re going to get all our first-choice players back and you’ll see that Italy will be ready. The adventure won’t start until May.”

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