Fiorentina's Cesare Prandelli has won Italy's Golden Bench award, given annually to the country's best club coach.

The award, based on the votes of fellow professionals, was presented to Prandelli for the way he revived the fortunes of twice Italian champions Fiorentina last season.

A special award was also presented to Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi and the staff that accompanied him to Germany.

Prandelli, 49, first took charge of a Serie A club at Lecce in the 1997-1998 season. Spells at Venezia and Parma culminated last July with his arrival at Fiorentina, who had narrowly escaped relegation to Serie B at the end of the 2004-05 season.

Under Prandelli, Fiorentina were once again contenders for top honours.

They finished fourth, but lost their place in the Champions League after being found guilty of attempting to influence match officials in the Serie A match-fixing scandal.

This season the club started with 15 points deducted, but have already worked their way out of the relegation zone and are now 16th in the 20-team division.

(China Daily via Reuters December 13, 2006)