Winning all that matters for no-nonsense Lippi

“AN OWN-GOAL would be fine,” joked Marcello Lippi yesterday, but behind the smiles, there is some anxiety ahead of their biggest match so far in World Cup Group 8.

Italians are accustomed to their managers experimenting with different formations and different players, but usually not on the eve of important games. Yesterday morning however, Italy were practising a 4-3-3 in Turin with Pepe, Gilardino and Iaquinta up front.

If that were to be Lippi’s starting line-up, it would almost certainly mean leaving Andrea Pirlo on the bench. The Milan playmaker has had an indifferent start to the season, but it would be a surprising move, given he has been a fixture in the side and was man of the match in the 2006 World Cup final.

The Italy coach is certainly not underestimating the importance of tonight’s game.

“It’s the most important game for us for quite some time,” said Lippi. “And I don’t just mean since I’ve been back in charge of the team.”

It’s his first time in charge in Turin, the city where he made his name, and he says he hopes to “make a good impression” but there has been a crescendo of criticism of both Lippi and his team since Saturday’s fortunate win in Tbilisi.

Milan defender Kakha Kaladze has naturally come in for a lot of ironic praise, given that no Italian player has managed a goal in the past four games.

The pressure is not just to win, but to win convincingly, an idea which Lippi is evidently concerned to dampen down.

“Criticism is good when it’s constructive, but when it’s aimed at exploiting a situation, we ignore it. The critics talk about our “poor quality” but we have more weapons at our disposal than they claim. We have a high technical level and other sorts of qualities as well.”

He also brushed aside concerns about the lack of goals: “We don’t feel under pressure to score, goals will come, just like good football will come. I’m not bothered about who scores, or how. Maybe Buffon might score with a header. Gigi is a creator, like Messi or Kaka or Maradona. What I want is to qualify, and I’m perfectly happy to win with a rebound or an own goal.”

Italy’s under-fire coach is also concerned that people might underestimate Bulgaria’s attack. The obvious threat is Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov, but Lippi also feels that Valeri Bojinov – currently at Parma, on loan from Manchester City – could have an impact.

“Berbatov plays for a great team and he’s shown his ability at Manchester. We came up against him in the first game and it needed our defenders to be totally alert to stop him.

With so much at stake, the Italian media is naturally anticipating a cagey approach from both sides. Lippi believes Bulgaria are unlikely to change their game plan – “Bulgaria have always used the same players and the same system” – and are unlikely to come out and attack.

Italy’s own game plan for tonight remains under wraps.

The coach refused to be drawn on whether the players used in training yesterday would be those in the starting line-up.

As for speculation about Pirlo, apparently he wasn’t wearing a bib in training because “he felt too hot”.

So will he play tonight? “It depends how hot it is.”