It was Lippi's first match as a boss since the World Cup triumph in 2006 with the Azzurri in Germany.But he clearly knows there is plenty of work to be done as they found themselves 2-0 down in Nice, before a second half own-goal gave them a draw.
A minute's silence preceded the match at the Stade du Ray and the team wore black armbands in honour of Roma President Franco Sensi, who died on Sunday aged 82.
The game was also Karol Bruckner's first as Austrian chief and his tenure started in great fashion as Emanuel Pogatetz put them ahead after just 15 minutes.
Bruckner was then in dreamland as Marc Janko doubled Austria's advantage five-minutes before the interval.
Fiorentina's Alberto Gilardino pulled one back in first-half injury time to reduce the deficit before the second period.Into the second-half and Italy needed a helping hand to secure the draw and it came from substitute Ramazan Ozcan.
Ozcan, making his debut, punched Gianluca Zambrotta's cross into his own net and despite a late push for a winner, they had to settle for a draw.
The World champions now turn their attentions to their opening 2010 World Cup qualifiers with Cyprus and Georgia next month.
Italy: Buffon, Zambrotta (Cassetti 70), Bonera (Legrottaglie 46), Barzagli, Grosso (Dossena 46), Gattuso (Perrotta 45), Pirlo (Aquilani 46), De Rossi, Di Natale, Gilardino, Del Piero (Palombo 74).
WORLD CUP EURO GROUP 6 QUALIFIER
Wednesday August 20
Kazakhstan 3-0 Andorra
SELECTED FRIENDLY RESULTS
Tuesday August 19
Australia 2-2 South Africa
Wednesday August 20
Belarus 0-0 Argentina
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Bulgaria
Denmark 0-3 Spain
England 2-2 Czech Republic
Germany 2-0 Belgium
Hungary 3-3 Montenegro
Norway 1-1 Rep of Ireland
Portugal 5-0 Faroe Islands
Romania 1-0 Latvia
Russia 1-1 Netherlands
Scotland 0-0 Northern Ireland
Slovakia 0-2 Greece
Slovenia 2-3 Croatia
Sweden 2-3 France
Switzerland 4-1 Cyprus
Turkey 1-0 Chile
Ukraine 1-0 Poland
Wales 1-2 Georgia
Source: Sky Sports
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