Lippi prepared for Podgorica
Marcello Lippi knows Montenegro “will play the game of their lives” tonight in Podgorica, but expects Italy to be no less fired up.
The Azzurri begin their international week by playing in Podgorica and then welcome the Republic of Ireland to Bari on Wednesday in 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
“Like all Slavic sides, they have good technique and will play the game of their lives. It will be a festival off the field and a historic occasion on it, so it’s only natural they’ll want to beat the world champions,” said Lippi.
“They are a young Federation and their motivation will be extraordinary, especially in front of their home fans in such a small stadium.
“As for us, we must simply try to highlight the differences in quality between the two teams. We want to win.”
The Coach is in the process of renewing his side that won the World Cup in 2006, but laughed off suggestions this team is missing a leadership figure.
“Not even in jest! We have [Gigi] Buffon, [Gianluca] Zambrotta, [Fabio] Cannavaro, [Daniele] De Rossi and [Andrea] Pirlo. These are real leaders, the ones who sacrifice themselves for the squad.”
He called in three debutants for these qualifiers – Marco Motta, Salvatore Bocchetti and Giampaolo Pazzini – but admits it is more of an acclimatisation process than anything else.
“Motta, Bocchetti and Pazzini will not play in this game, but they made it clear to be during these days of training that they will become important players. I am sure that sooner or later they too will be part of the Nazionale.
“This has been a positive week. I wanted to stay with the lads and see how things were developing, I discovered some very interesting young players and we not only worked on preparing for this game, but also on the principles of constructing this squad.”
All week in training Lippi has used the same basic line-up, so there should be no real surprises in tonight’s match with Montenegro, which you can watch LIVE.
Antonio Di Natale, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Fabio Quagliarella should form the trident attack with Daniele De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo and Sampdoria’s Angelo Palombo in midfield.
“I have forwards with different characteristics. We can have many options with Quagliarella, Iaquinta and [Simone] Pepe.”
Italy currently lead World Cup qualifying Group 8 on level terms with the Republic of Ireland on 10 points.
Montenegro are in penultimate place with two points alongside Georgia and lost the first meeting 2-1 in Lecce back on October 15.
Kick-off is in Podgorica at 19.45 UK time and you can watch the whole game LIVE on Omnisport.
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