Lippi confident despite scandal and Italy's poor warm-up

By Bernhard Krieger Jun 5, 2006, 12:55 GMT

Coach of the Italian national soccer team Marcello Lippi during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday 01 June 2006. EPA/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO

Lausanne, Switzerland - Italy's World Cup squad travel to Germany this week with a string of injuries affecting their performance and public prosecutors breathing down their necks.

But coach Marcelo Lippi is undaunted by the domestic football scandal that has engulfed some of his players and unconvincing draws against Ukraine and Switzerland in pre-tournament friendlies.

'We'll play a great World Cup,'said the 58-year-old, whose 'Azzurri' have now gone 18 matches without defeat - a series the coach hopes will continue past the group stage in Germany.

Lippi does not appear too concerned that superstar Francesco Totti is struggling to regain his form after breaking a leg or that a thigh strain has ruled defender Gianluca Zambrotta out of Italy's opening match against Ghana on June 12.

The charismatic coach believes that if things go well for his squad they could even achieve their first World Cup title since winning the coveted trophy in Spain 24 years ago.

But it is the scandal at home involving match-fixing and player intimidation that could affect Italy's performance on the field.

Over the weekend, the scandal spread from Juventus Turin and its former general manager Luciano Moggi to engulf AC Milan, dragging more national team players under the scrutiny of legal authorities.

The newspaper La Stampa claimed that Milan had manipulated referees in an attempt to stem the influence of Moggi, something of a football godfather in Italy.

AC Milan's vice president, Adriano Galliani, dismissed the allegations Monday as part of a campaign to tarnish the image of his club, pointing out Moggi had told police that he was solely to blame.

Milan's five internationals face an interrogation by public prosecutors trying to get to bottom of the corruption.

Following questioning of national team goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, proescutors quizzed his Juventus teamates Fabio Cannavaro and Frenchman David Trezeguet on Saturday.

Cannavaro, captain of Italy's World Cup squad, and French striker Trezeguet, were asked about GEA, a powerful firm of football agents under investigation for allegedly controlling the transfer market through intimidation and unfair competition.

'I answered all the questions and removed all doubts,' said Cannavaro after the hour-long interrogation. 'The prosecutors were happy and have no plans to question me again.'

One of the owners of GEA is Alessandro Moggi, son of the former Juventus manager. Davide Lippi, son the national team coach, is also under investigation in the scandal.

The Italian football federation FIGC Sunday began quizzing referees about claims that Moggi was involved in manipulating the process to determine which referees officiated at which Serie A games.