A toothless Italy were held to a draw in their World Cup warm-up match against fellow qualifiers Switzerland in Geneva.
Daniel Gygax's 30-yard strike on the half-hour mark cancelled out Alberto Gilardino's 10th minute effort.
The hard working Swiss were too predictable for an Azzurri side that showed their defensive strength but created very little upfront.
The Italians welcomed back Roma playmaker Francesco Totti, who returned to national team action after a serious leg injury.
The Roma playmaker lasted the entire 90 minutes but his performance suggests he lacks match fitness.
Cheered by a large crowd, the hosts, who are making their World Cup debut this summer, came out with all guns blazing but ran into a determined Italian defence.
With the Swiss dominating in possession but failing to take the lead, Italy struck.
Fabio Grosso's cross from the left found an unmarked Gilardino, who tapped the ball past goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuhler who got his fingers to the ball but to no avail.
The goal did little to inspire the Azzurri as the Swiss picked up where they left off.
Johann Vogel tried his luck from distance but his shot went wide.
The hosts' efforts finally paid off after the half-hour mark thanks to an error by Italy's midfield line, who gave the ball away to their rival.
Gygax' beautiful right-footed strike from outside the area towards the far post beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The Swiss looked more determined to strike again before the break and almost succeeded on the stroke of half-time when Ludovic Magnin's header went narrowly high over the crossbar.
Both sides made a series of changes at half-time and at the start of the second half with Lippi inserting Serie A's top scorer Luca Toni in place of Gilardino.
Toni could have put his team in front after eight minutes on the pitch but he failed to take advantage of a defensive error by his rivals as his weak central shot went straight to the arms of Zuberbuhler.
Shortly after, Lippi was forced to make another substitution with Grosso leaving the pitch after sustaining an ankle injury.
The Swiss defended well and managed to stop Italy's advances.
Italy still could have come out with the win had Daniele De Rossi's 80th minute header from Totti's free-kick not gone wide.
Italy coach Marcello Lippi will be hoping his men show a major improvement in Saturday's friendly against Ukraine with 12 days to go before their World Cup opener against Ghana.
