Marcello Lippi Quotations

Luckily we were able to win. It's so important to start off well.

No one did better in the final phase of last season.

I have called Maldini to try and convince him to return, but he has asked me to respect his decision to retire. From our point of view, we won't be asking him again.

When he has resolved his problems, Cassano will return, ... Something may change. I'm not saying that because I know what it is but because the deadline is tomorrow.

From here on it's serious, no more expanded rosters. I have to start working on the team for the World Cup.

If anyone thinks too much about personal things and less about the team that would be the most serious error anybody could commit.

He navigates the Internet, I navigate boats. But evidently he's able to do it.

I watched a tape yesterday of Germany against Brazil in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup and they didn't deserve to lose that game. Then there's the Germany we saw tonight. Which Germany is it? I still think it's a strong team.

We know this Scotland are very, very different from the Scotland of five years ago,

You are a d***head. You can't film me without asking first, ... If you like, we can go into the press room and you can film all you want, but you can't hide away like that.

We did what we wanted to do in the first half with three strikers -- we had lots of scoring opportunities. We had to win, because now we have three away games.

There are several approaches to anything, but I wouldn't be able to do it in his way, using all that technology, computers, e-mail.

It would be a mistake to consider this match simply a formality,

Tonight we showed we can play with three strikers.

Better now than at the end of the season.

Some players can be certain, others a little less,

This game was part of the plan we made after qualifying. We had in mind three tough games.

This is a big injection of confidence. I wanted a solid night of work, that was the plan. I'm glad we're moving in the right direction.

After the win in the Netherlands we said we would have liked it if the World Cup began right away. Three months later we have the same energy. Games like these help convince us that we're strong and not inferior to anyone.

I'm not influenced by what goes on at Juventus. What I always say is that when he joins up with the Italy squad, he leaves behind him any problems he may have with his club.

The Inter fans have insulted human nature. There is only one race, the human race.

They were the ones that really needed to find the back of the net.

For bureaucratic reasons we weren't able to organize a game against the world champions and therefore we were presented the opportunity to play against Germany, which is a team with great tradition and big ambitions in terms of the World Cup.

It's true, we can say we are within sight of the finish line, since we only need one point to qualify,

The most beautiful thing in the Champions League this season has been Arsenal. Their growth has been incredible. They have done something which in Italy we could never allow ourselves to do.

To this day I am not convinced of having brought together with me in Germany the technically best players that could have been. But I was firmly convinced I called the ones that could create a team, and they could play with one another to the best of their possibility. In this day and age you win if you become a team. It doesn't necessarily mean that you've got to have the best football players in the country. It's possible that the best, all together, don't become a team. It's like a mosaic, you have to put all the pieces together.

What happened in the United changing room has happened to me 50 times in my career. I have kicked bottles of mineral water, bags and shoes but I never hit a player. It's a question of technique, and the Scots must have a better technique.

Paul Scholes would have been one of my first choices for putting together a great team.