Evergrande hero Lippi a tough act to follow, says Fabio Cannavaro
Italy World Cup-winning skipper knows he has big boots to fill in China
A smile, a laugh and then: "It's not easy to follow Marcello Lippi." Most would agree. But that is the challenge World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has accepted after succeeding his former coach as the man in charge of Chinese powerhouses Guangzhou Evergrande.
Considering this is Cannavaro's first head-coach role following a brief stint as assistant with Al-Ahli in the United Arab Emirates, the former Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid defender is understandably apprehensive when asked about the challenge of succeeding "Mr Lippi".
"When you are talking about Marcello Lippi, I know that if I want to do much better than him I need to win and play well. Mr Lippi is one of the best coaches in the world, so we can't compare me with Mr Lippi. I just hope in the future I can do 10 per cent of what he has achieved in his life," says Cannavaro in a hotel lobby in the fashionable Gangnam district of Seoul before their 2-1 first-leg defeat by Seongnam FC in the AFC Champions League.
Even before I had communication with Mr Lippi as we won the World Cup together, and I still call him and he calls me and we talk about football in general
"Even before I had communication with Mr Lippi as we won the World Cup together, and I still call him and he calls me and we talk about football in general."
Lippi will be on hand to witness the progress of his former charge and now coaching prodigy at Guangzhou's Tianhe Sports Centre Stadium this week as the 2013 AFC Champions League winners look to overturn the first-leg deficit in their last-16 meeting against K-League Classic outfit Seongnam.
Guangzhou looked to have done enough to survive Li Xuepeng's red card just after the hour mark until Seongnam captain Kim Do-heon converted a dubious 96th-minute penalty.
And it will be in the AFC Champions League where Cannavaro will be largely judged after Lippi, having won the Uefa Champions League equivalent with Juventus in 1996, became the first coach to win both the Asian and European continental club titles after brilliantly masterminding Guangzhou's 2013 Asian success.
"I was happy for Mr Lippi when he won the Asian Champions League because after Europe and after the World Cup, he won again in a different country.