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Battle of the underdogs Wounded favorite Italy fights for Group B supremacy
Posted: Thursday June 08, 2000 09:25 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Italian dreams of an easy first round have collapsed, and the problems have largely been of their own making. Instead, a true battle of three underdogs with a wounded favorite will dominate Euro 2000 Group B. A succession of bad results this season has taught the injury-plagued Italian team you cannot win on reputation alone. The others, Belgium, Sweden and Turkey, have taken a realistic approach to their chances, with each trying to claim the underdog title before the championship gets under way. The string of embarrassing results for the Azzurris continued last weekend when they lost their last warm-up game before Euro 2000 against Norway in Oslo 1-0. To add to their misery, Italy lost a second key player to injury, Parma AC goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who broke his finger during the game. Top striker Christian Vieri is also out of the championships. The Norway loss highlighted that coach Dino Zoff has problems to fix in all areas. "The result can only be negative from a psychological point of view. Our game was tight, but we didn't manage to get shots on goal. We didn't score and we had trouble with their high passes," he said. Italy will be hard-pressed to offer first-round opponents a traditional Italian soccer experience. The venerable underdogs of international tournaments, Belgium's Red Devils, are eyeing a quarter-final berth to make the tournament they host a success. Playing on home turf, they will be keen to continue their recent string of good results under new head coach Robert Waseige who, since he was named coach last fall, has rescued the team from its ever downward spiral. It doesn't mean Waseige has solved all problems. It is still questionable whether Derby County forward Branko Strupar will start Saturday's opening match against Sweden after his lackluster return to the field in last weekend's 2-2 draw with Denmark. Strupar had been out with a bad back and a bruised hip for six weeks. "We played below our best standards," admitted Waseige after the Denmark game. Waseige will also be out to rejig his defensive flanks after a dismal showing against the Danes. Sweden's defense proved itself again by holding Spain to a 1-1 draw last weekend. Sweden allowed only one goal during the qualifiers and maintaining their defensive wall will be key to frustrating their opponents. Even if few have scored against the Swedes, finding the mark themselves has also been tough and the broken leg of Hendrik Larsson has only made matters worse. The Celtic striker made his return to the national team last weekend against Spain, completing what is generally considered a miracle recovery after breaking his leg only seven months ago. Whether he will be in sparkling form though, remains a question. Apart from Larsson, Sweden will be depending heavily on Bologna veteran Kennet Andersson to spark the offense. The Swedes only managed 10 goals in the qualifying round. Sweden's chances of advancing didn't improve when veteran midfield star Stefan Schwarz ruptured his Achilles tendon during the game against the Austrians in March. The injury will keep him sidelined at least five months. Turkey is seeking to cash in on the success of Galatasaray's UEFA Cup championship team, as coach Mustafa Denizli picked nine of them to come to Euro 2000. Turkey narrowly defeated Ireland in a playoff to make it to the tournament and will be looking to improve on their last outing in 1996, when they lost all three games and failed to score a single goal. Denizli is worried that the strains of success for Galatasaray have worn out his top strikers Hakan Sukur, and Arif Erdem It is questionable whether Italy will win this group, despite its wealth of talent. Form, and the luck of the moment in any of the games, looks more likely to decide who will go on to the second round.
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