Byline: SIMON CASS

WITH a swift arrivederci and a short auf wiedersehen, Marcello Lippi and Jurgen Klinsmann have said farewell to their respective jobs, leaving behind them pride restored in their respective countries' football.

Whether you favour the seasoned tactical nous of the vastly experienced Lippi or the youthful enthusiasm of Klinsmann, both have become heroes in their home nations after far exceeding pre-World Cup expectations.

While any self-respecting English football fan cannot have been sorry to see the back of Sven Goran Eriksson, Italy and Germany are in national mourning following the decisions by Lippi and Klinsmann to call it a day.

Although at opposite ends of the managerial scale, they both overcame seemingly insurmountable adversity to achieve their success, with Lippi leading his team to the ultimate prize, while Klinsmann took his to an unforgettable semi-final against the Italians.

Both coaches decided to quit on the same day, after just over two years in their posts, but the similarities in their decisionmaking process run much deeper.

Both have expertly converted a backdrop of negativity into a siege mentality which proved vital to their teams' fortunes this summer. But neither has forgotten such negativity.

Speaking about his decision to quit yesterday, Lippi said: 'After the conclusion of an extraordinary professional and human experience during my time guiding this group of players, I believe my role as coach of the national team is over.' True, perhaps uppermost in his thinking was that after guiding Italy to their unexpected fourth World Cup title there remained little left to achieve. But, while not under investigation himself, the match- fixing scandal enveloping his former club Juventus, along with AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, coupled with facing prosecutors ' questions over allegations that he was pressurised into selecting players from certain clubs for the national side, did little to persuade the 58-year-old coach to stay on. …