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Del Piero looking for spot on national team
ROME (AP) -- Alessandro Del Piero has a knack for coming up with big goals in big games for his club. It looks like he might get a chance to do the same for his country.The nimble, creative Juventus striker has the inside track for a spot in Italy's starting 11 when it faces Russia on Saturday night for the right to go to next summer's World Cup finals.
Del Piero was on the first unit Italy coach Cesare Maldini put on the field for a scrimmage against Third Division club Lodigiani on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old scored once in the 12-0 rout, while some other forwards had more impressive stats: Parma's Enrico Chiesa had four goals, Olympique Marseille's Fabrizio Ravanelli three and Chelsea's Gianfranco Zola two.
But Zola was used in the slightly retreated position that was such a bust when Italy and England drew 0-0 last month.
"Zola is in good shape, but Del Piero is in fantastic form," Maldini said of his two most imaginative players. "Del Piero has made great strides. Zola is coming off a week with three (club) games, and he played so-so in the third."
Zola -- who played for Napoli from 1989-93 -- can still point to his winner in Italy's 1-0 victory over England at Wembley Stadium in February. But he hasn't produced much since for the Azzurri.
Though neither have the other forwards. The team has just four goals in its last five official outings -- and three came in a defeat of less-than-imposing Poland in April.
"There's the possibility I'll play," Del Piero said. "Of course, there was also a chance I'd play in Moscow, and I was on the bench." He entered as a second-half substitute in the snowy, muddy first-leg match Oct. 29 that finished 1-1.
"Now I'm completely ready. I'm almost in peak form, and my morale is sky-high," he said.
Del Piero has led Juventus to the last two European Champions Cup title games, and has an amazing record of 15 goals in 19 career appearances in that competition. This season, his pace is even better: five goals in four games, including a one-goal, two-assist outing last week.
After taking Roberto Baggio's No. 10 jersey with the Turin club, Del Piero is poised to become Baggio's heir with the national team, as well.
Russian coach Boris Ignatiev also did some tinkering with his attack in practice Wednesday, giving Igor Simutenkov time at the winger postion vacated by the injured Andrei Kanchelskis.
Like Kanchelskis, who plays with Fiorentina, Simutenkov plays with an Italian club, albeit Second Division Reggiana.
Simutenkov missed the Moscow match with injury, but looks like a good option for Ignatiev, who would love to have a player be disruptive down the right flank and limit Italy captain Paolo Maldini's attacking runs. Paolo is the son of coach Cesare Maldini.
Both the elder Maldini and Ignatiev have their jobs on the line heading into the match at sold-out San Paolo Stadium.
"I don't know what I'll do if Russia is eliminated," Ignatiev said. "I guess I would keep working in soccer, even if not with the national team. But then, it would neither be the end of the world nor a revolution."
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