Trapped

Problems mount for beleaguered Italian coach

ROME (AP) -- Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni faces a vexing situation heading into his team's European qualifying match against Yugoslavia on Saturday.

The veteran coach has faced increased criticism since Italy's disastrous ouster from the World Cup earlier this year. With the team's top strikers scoring goals by the bucket in both league and European matches for their club teams, observers are calling for a more offensive-minded attack.

But all three of Trapattoni's preferred strikers at the World Cup -- Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri and Filippo Inzaghi -- are injured heading into Saturday night's match in Naples.

Adding insult to injury, many of those same observers are now saying that the three forwards are hardly injured at all, and that they just don't want to risk injury and possibly jeopardize their status for their club teams.

The issue came to the forefront on Tuesday, when a furious Totti was forced to trek from Rome to the "Azzurri" training base in Florence for a medical exam.

Trapattoni had selected Totti despite the AS Roma captain's announcement that he was suffering from knee and calf injuries and would be unavailable.

Totti's announcement came shortly after he scored twice and played all 90 minutes as Roma defeated Udinese 4-1 last Saturday. After the game, he said he scored his second goal by transforming his pain into an angry swipe at the ball.

After a short medical exam that included his doctor from Roma, Italy's doctor excused Totti from his national team duties.

Inter Milan's Vieri, meanwhile, never even made it to Florence due to a bad ankle that kept him out of Inter's league match Sunday. Inzaghi, who scored a hat-trick for AC Milan on Sunday, is with the team, but the condition of one of his feet left his status in doubt for Saturday.

The curious situation was described as "Trap's Trappola" in a front-page editorial in Wednesday's Gazzetta dello Sport.

"The call-up to the national team has come to be a bother for many," the Gazzetta editorial said. "Because Trapattonian Italy doesn't enthuse anyone. Sponsors included."

The same editorial went on to say that former national team coach Dino Zoff, who Trapattoni replaced after Euro 2000, was ready to take the job back.

For his part, Trapattoni, Italy's most successful coach at the club level, sought to play down the latest debate surrounding his team.

"We're a nation of suspects," Trapattoni said. "I have faith in the players. The only principle is that whoever plays in league matches comes to the training site and makes a visit. Transparency counts."

When prodded if he thought Totti and Vieri would play in their clubs' next matches, the silver-haired coach responded: "Probably, but it wouldn't be anything new for me."

Inter defender Fabio Cannavaro, the new captain of the "Azzurri," was more outwardly bothered by the latest hubbub.

"Personally, I'm happy to participate and not only because of the blue jersey," Cannavaro said. "My teammates think the same as I do. So it bothers me when I hear accusations of estrangement with regard to the national team. These critics have put our passion in a bad light and we can't accept it."

One top striker who has dutifully accepted his latest call-up to Trapattoni's squad is Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero.

Del Piero is expected to get the starting nod Saturday night along with Roma's Vincenzo Montella at the two forward spots.

"You can't say that without Totti and Vieri Italy will be at half-strength," said Del Piero, who led Italy in a 2-0 win at Azerbaijan in its first qualifying match for the Euros last month.

"The national team has the task of raising the image of our soccer again, but not less so than the clubs," Del Piero said. "Above all, we have to take advantage of playing at home against the strongest adversary of our group."

The other members of Italy's qualifying group for the 2004 tournament are Wales (which hosts Italy next Wednesday), Azerbaijan and Finland.

Against Yugoslavia, Italy's players -- all of whom are based in the Italian league -- will face some familiar faces in defender Sinisha Mihajlovic and midfielder Dejan Stankovic, both of whom play for Lazio of Rome.

And fans of Italian soccer will recognize Yugoslavia coach Dejan Savicevic, who won three Serie A titles in the 1990s as a playmaker for Milan, which was also Trapattoni's club as a player.

Lastly, two other players on the original list of 22 players Trapattoni selected for the match will not play.

Inter defender Francesco Coco has an injured thigh and will be replaced by Chievo's Salvatore Lanna for both matches. Another Inter player, midfielder Luigi Di Biagio, is suffering from flu symptoms and may still play against Wales on Wednesday.

 

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