Italy's World Cup winning boss Marcello Lippi said on Thursday that he was astonished by Egypt's impressive displays in the 2006 African Cup of Nations triumph. Lippi, speaking at a press conference in the Egyptian Football Association's headquarters, expressed his admiration for Egypt and coach Hassan Shehata. "I watched Egypt's victory over Sweden yesterday and found that although a year has passed since the African Cup, your national team is still characterized with harmony between players." Two goals from Amr Zaki and Ahmed Fathi earned Egypt a 2-0 home win over Sweden in an international friendly that came as a part of CAF's 50th anniversary celebrations. The former Juventus coach came to Egypt last year to follow up the African Cup of Nations games, particularly Ghana's ones as the Black Stars were paired with Italy in the World Cup.
Lippi highlighted the similarities between world champions Italy and African Cup holders Egypt. "I faced difficulties at the beginning of my work with Italy but managed to overcome them just like what Egypt did." "Italy players were determined to win the World Cup to clean up the country's sports image following the match-fixing scandal." The 58-year-old commented on the crowd riots which happened in a Serie A game between Catania and Palermo and resulted in the league being halted. "The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is working on reforming some rules regarding the stadiums to ensure they meet safety requirements," he concluded.
