16 players from Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning team tried their hand at coaching, praised and encouraged by their father figure Lippi. But none of them achieved great success; in fact, Gattuso and his colleagues produced some very curious stories.
Perhaps it was the beer that flowed generously through the Italian cabin very late in the evening of July 9, 2006. Gennaro Gattuso, in any case, grinned strangely at some point and swore in his own way, “Oh God, I’m full – and man, I look ugly in the camera!” While Massimo Oddo also slurred sentences into the microphones without any context.
After a World Cup victory, such failures are excused, but quite obviously the brew had recoded the winner’s DNA and, in particular, the tactical orientation of the world champions with a devilish bug. Sixteen professionals from the squad at the time subsequently tried their hand at following in the footsteps of coach Marcello Lippi, and the bleak conclusion is that football has seen far more valuable ideas in its history.