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Italy tries to avoid disaster against Russia
NAPLES, Italy (AP) -- For some countries, like the United States or Saudi Arabia, it's a thrill to reach the World Cup finals. For Italy, it's an obligation.The three-time champion finds itself on the brink of missing the tournament for the first time since 1958, needing either a scoreless tie or a victory against Russia on Saturday.
Italy's fate rests largely with two men from the same family: coach Cesare Maldini and his son, Paolo, the team captain.
Paolo, one of the world's top defenders, is charged with holding together the a defense. He was held out of part of Thursday's practice because of stiffness in his left ankle, though he should be fine for the game.
"It's a very strange match," he said. "It seems like a cup final but if you win it, you haven't won anything."
The elder Maldini has to provide his players with sound strategy -- something he's sometimes failed to do -- and has several key lineup calls to make. While he claims to have chosen a starting 11, the coach hasn't made it known.
Not even to the players, apparently.
"We don't know anything. We can read the papers, but they don't seem to know. We'll all just have to wait until Saturday to see who's out there," said Gianluca Pessotto, who's been battling Diego Fuser for the defender spot vacated by an injured Angelo Di Livio.
Pessotto is primarily a defender, while Fuser is a two-way midfielder. The decision will reflect whether the coach wants a 5-3-2 formation or a more attack-minded 4-4-2.
Given the coach's penchant for conservative, defensive play (he was a defender with the national team in the 1960s), the former is more likely. Because Italy tied Russia 1-1 at Moscow in the first leg of the home-and-home, total-goals series, a scoreless tie would give the World Cup berth to Italy because of more road goals.
The defense, bolstered by the returns of center back Ciro Ferrara and goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, will have to keep an eye on forward Igor Kolyvanov and playmaker Igor Simutenkov, who both play for Italia clubs.
Along with Sergei Yuran and Dmitry Alenichev, they'll provide the visitors' attacking push, since winger Andrei Kanchelskis -- who was a threat in Moscow until he was hurt -- is sidelined.
Italy has its own injury problems. Because of an injury to Christian Vieri, the Spanish League scoring leader, Pierluigi Casiraghi and Gianfranco Zola are likely to start up front.
But Cesare Maldini said Friday that Zola's spot might be filled by Fabrizio Ravanelli. Like Casiraghi, he is sturdy if not nimble.
If that's the case, the midfield block of Demetrio Albertini, Dino Baggio and Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo will need to push the ball into position for shots.
Since losing the 1994 World Cup title game to Brazil on penalty kicks, Italy has fallen into one of its biggest slumps. The Azzurri were eliminated in the first round of the 1996 European Championship, -- a disappointment that precipitated the firing of Maldini's predecessor, Arrigo Sacchi.
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan