Lippi lavishes praise on Sir Alex

Italy's FIFA World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi has hailed Sir Alex Ferguson as "one of the best coaches in the world".

Memorable match
As Sir Alex celebrates 20 years at Old Trafford, Lippi shared with uefa.com his admiration for the Manchester United FC manager with whom he enjoyed a great rivalry during his time in charge of Juventus. United famously fought back from two goals behind to defeat Lippi's Juventus 3-2 to book their place in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final. The English club went on to beat FC Bayern München 2-1 in Barcelona, a terrific end to a season that had also seen them win the Premiership and FA Cup.

'Great friend'
Lippi, who is having a break from football after leading Italy to the world crown in Germany, said: "I consider Ferguson a great friend and a great professional. That is easy to say because anyone who is at the top of European football for 20 years, keeping the same team at the top of the European game, must have an open mind and a really high level of knowledge. I don't know his style of work because I've never seen him at work, but I've seen the results and they are great results. To work at the top for 20 years makes him one of the greats."

'Admiration'
Describing his bond with Ferguson, Lippi added: "It is a relationship based on admiration and friendship, and dates back to the Manchester United-Juventus matches in the [UEFA] Champions League. He always showed a great admiration for my job and, from that, the relationship developed into a friendship. Every time we meet we talk about our families, our grandchildren and also about our work."

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