Lippi latest candidate for difficult Spain job By Duncan Shaw

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 10, 2006

By Duncan Shaw, Madrid- Marcello Lippi is the latest candidate to become the new national manager of Spain, according to Italian and Spanish press reports on Tuesday. But whether the prestigious Italian coach, 58, would agree to step into a chaotic situation at the Spanish football federation is another matter.

Italian sports paper Gazetto dello Sport and Madrid daily Marca both carry the story on their front page on Tuesday.

Gazetto dello Sport claims that Lippi is keen to leave Italy due to his possible implication in the Juventus match-fixing scandal - the same as Fabio Capello, now at Real Madrid.

Marca, for its part, says that "a prestigious foreign coach like Lippi could give Spain a more serious and professional approach."

Lippi has an excellent reputation around the world after all his success at Juventus - and after taking Italy to triumph at the World Cup in July.

He resigned straight after that triumph, in order to have time to collaborate with the various investigations looking into scandals in Italian football.

Spain has never had a foreign national manager. Incumbent Luis Aragones is under massive pressure to resign after defeats away to Sweden and Northern Ireland.

Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar is under pressure to sack Luis, but for the time being cannot find the necessary six million euros to pay off the veteran coach and his assistants.

Luis, 66, was given the position in 2004 after many years of speculation about his long career being crowned with the national job.

He made a good start and his team was unbeaten for almost two years - until being knocked out of the World Cup by France in the second round.

Before the World Cup Luis had said he would quit if Spain did not reach the semi-finals. After the France defeat he changed his mind and agreed to a two-year contract extension.

Following the Northern Ireland defeat he did actually resign - only to retract his resignation just three hours later.

Spain has never lost three successive matches. Defeat on Wednesday against Argentina would likely be the final nail in his coffin.

Online polls in Spain show that around 70 per cent of fans believe that Luis and Villar should both step down.

The fans' favourite to succeed Luis is former Real Madrid boss Vicente del Bosque, out of work since being sacked by Besiktas almost a year ago.

Villar's choice, however, is the less popular Miguel Angel Lotina, who took modest Espanyol to victory in the Spanish cup six months ago.

"Whoever is chosen," says El Pais on Tuesday, "faces a difficult task, due to the chaos at the federation and due to the lack of self-confidence of the players."

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency