MILAN, May 25 - Italy qualified for the World Cup finals with relative ease
and go to Germany as candidates to challenge Brazil for the title.
It is doubtful whether the ongoing investigations into match-fixing will have
a detrimental impact on their campaign -- unless coach Marcello Lippi is forced
to stand down, which appears unlikely.
Lippi has been summoned by magistrates as a witness in an investigation into
allegations surrounding his former club Juventus. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Once in Germany, the problems surrounding the game at home will be quickly
forgotten as Italy concentrate on trying to win the World Cup for the fourth
time in their history.
March's impressive 4-1 friendly win over Germany has raised hopes in Italy
that Lippi's side can live up to expectations and capitalise on the abundance of
attacking talent they have available.
The Azzurri are wary of aiming too high, however, after their early exit from
Euro 2004 when they failed to get past the group stage and their disappointment
at the World Cup in 2002 when they were eliminated by the South Koreans in the
second round.
Giovanni Trapattoni, who was in charge for both those tournaments, was
replaced by Lippi after the failure in Portugal and the former Juventus coach
has brought a greater solidity to the side.
Lippi's approach has been to focus heavily on building a solid core to his
team and trying to simulate the spirit of a club side.
"All national teams face the problem that there is no time to work on their
weaknesses and to perfect themselves, if you can even talk about 'perfection',"
Lippi said after securing qualification.
"So it has become vital to have the right morale and to focus on that."
SOLID CORE
The core of Trapattoni's side remains -- goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, central
defenders Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta and creative force Francesco
Totti -- although Totti's preparation for the World Cup has been hampered by
injury.
The new look to Italy is found in attack where Fiorentina's prolific target
man Luca Toni has replaced Christian Vieri and Milan's Alberto Gilardino is
threatening Alessandro Del Piero's starting place.
The 4-1 win away to Belarus, with a hat-trick from Toni, was the most
impressive result achieved in qualification but it was the unglamorous,
hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Slovenia, the only team in Group Five to beat
Italy, which demonstrated the character and grit Lippi has been searching for
and which he hopes will deliver in Germany.
There are question marks over Lippi's team however.
Firstly, in defence, the Cannavaro-Nesta pairing is the most reliable in the
world but the cover for them is sorely lacking in experience and, some would
say, genuine quality. An injury or suspension in the centre of defence could
have a major impact on the foundation of Lippi's side.
While Totti's roaming role in front of the midfield and behind two forwards
gives Italy some extra edge in attack it does leave a three-man midfield which
could struggle against a team who pack the centre of the field and may lack
width.
Up front, Toni has been in excellent form this season, heading the scoring
charts in Serie A throughout the campaign but he has little international
experience and no natural partner in attack.
SHAMEFUL FIGURE
Del Piero will feel he deserves to start alongside Toni but that pairing has
had little time together to gel. Gilardino has played more with Toni but has
been struggling to hold down a regular place at AC Milan.
Then there is Totti himself, a disappointment at the last World Cup and a
shameful figure at Euro 2004 where he was suspended for spitting at an opponent,
he is desperate to make amends in Germany.
Whether his lengthy absence due to ankle injury results in him arriving at
the finals fresh from a rest or badly short of match-practice will have a major
impact on Italy's fortunes -- although they have taken heart from the fact that
without Totti they still were able to dominate Germany.
Italy will also be hoping to do better in this World Cup than they did in
West Germany in 1974 when they failed to get past the first round.
A place in their sixth World Cup final is not an unrealistic prospect, nor is
the possibility of a fourth world title after previous successes in 1934, 1938
and 1982.
