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Del Piero left out of Italy squad

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Posted: Tuesday August 31, 1999 06:15 PM

ROME (Reuters) -- Italy coach Dino Zoff resisted the temptation to bring Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero back into his squad on Tuesday and gave Parma midfielder Paolo Vanoli a call-up instead.

Zoff named a 20-man party for the European championship group one qualifier against Denmark in Naples on September 8.

The world's costliest player Christian Vieri and in-form Filippo Inzaghi are named and are likely to start in attack.

But there was no place for Del Piero. He made his comeback for Juventus four weeks ago and had been expected to reclaim his place in the squad after being sidelined for 10 months with torn cruciate ligaments in his left knee.

Del Piero has not played for his country since last September when he scored both goals in the 2-0 defeat of Switzerland. Zoff appears to have decided he is not yet fit enough to return to the international frame.

Vanoli's place in the squad is just reward for his contribution to Parma's successful 1998-99 season.

The left-sided midfielder scored the decisive goal in Parma's Italian Cup final victory over Fiorentina in May and followed it up a week later with one of Parma's three goals in their UEFA Cup final victory.

The other new face in Zoff's squad is Bologna's Jonathan Binotto who can play in either defence or midfield.

Binotto started his career at Juventus but never won a place in the side and spent most of career in Serie B before joining Bologna in 1998. He was a regular in the side which reached the semifinals of the UEFA Cup last season.

Left back Paolo Maldini is ruled out with a fractured toe, and his captain's armband passes to AC Milan teammate and central midfielder Demetrio Albertini.

Lazio's Giuseppe Favalli is named as a replacement for Maldini on the left side of defence while Inter Milan's Christian Panucci keeps his place at right back.

Juventus players Gianluca Pessotto and Gianluca Zambrotta, both named for Italy's last two qualifying matches against Wales and Switzerland in June, have been dropped.

Italy lead group one on 14 points from Switzerland and Denmark on eight each. A victory over the Danes in Naples would ensure the Italians a place at the championships in Belgium and the Netherlands next year.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), Francesco Toldo (Fiorentina)

Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Parma), Paolo Negro, Alessandro Nesta and Giuseppe Pancaro (all Lazio), Christian Panucci (Inter Milan), Jonathan Binotto (Bologna)

Midfielders: Demetrio Albertini and Massimo Ambrosini (both AC Milan), Dino Baggio, Diego Fuser and Paolo Vanoli (all Parma), Antonio Conte (Juventus), Eusebio Di Francesco (AS Roma), Giuliano Giannichedda (Udinese)

Forwards: Enrico Chiesa (Fiorentina), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus), Francesco Totti (AS Roma), Christian Vieri (Inter Milan)

France needs World Cup-winning spirit, coach says

French manager Roger Lemerre has called on his players to revive their World Cup-winning spirit to beat Ukraine and Armenia in two crucial Euro 2000 qualifiers during the next eight days.

"We must recover the same full dedication we had in the World Cup and we must do it now," Lemerre said on Tuesday at the French training camp in Clairefontaine, near Paris.

The world champions leave France on Thursday to meet group four leaders Ukraine in Kiev on Saturday before tackling Armenia in Yerevan the following Wednesday.

Tactically, Lemerre hopes the French will again be versatile, with strikers defending and defenders attacking.

"What's important is the link between the defense and the strikers. This is how you win matches, and I told the guys I had picked them precisely for that," he said.

Failure to qualify for next year's finals in Belgium and the Netherlands would be a bitter disappointment for France, but goalkeeper Fabien Barthez called on the fans to stay calm.

"I'm not worried, we'll go to Euro 2000. I can feel it in the team that we've got what it takes to go far," he said.

"But if we should lose against Ukraine, it should not become a national disaster. We're here to bring pleasure and it's only sport," he added.

The Monaco goalkeeper said the return of European footballer of the year Zinedine Zidane, who missed France's last five matches, was a great morale booster.

"Zidane is the best player in the world. He's back and we're happy. When he's around, everything is perfect," he said.

Zidane, who had a cartilage operation at the end of last season and has returned to action for Juventus this season, said: 'My condition is slowly improving and I'm delighted to be back.

"We have two very important matches and I'm here to play my part. A lot is expected from me but I don't mind, it is normal."

Parma midfielder Alain Boghossian believes the pressure on the team will help them make it through.

"We have our backs against the wall and that's a situation we relish," he said.

But Boghossian, who has Armenian origins, warned his teammates against complacency in Armenia.

Bayern fines Basler for disco exploits

Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Basler was handed a hefty 20,000 mark (US$10,800) fine after partying until the early hours before last weekend's match against SpVgg Unterhaching.

The 30-year-old Basler, who has been involved in a row over salary demands, celebrated injured Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann's birthday in a Munich disco until 2.30 a.m. on Friday morning, Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"I know I made a mistake. I just lost track of time," Basler said. Champions Bayern beat SpVgg Unterhaching 1-0 on Saturday.

Basler complained that it was hard to be a professional footballer these days.

"You can't do anything," Basler told Germany's InfoRadio. "Every time you go into a disco or a bar there's a journalist or a photographer waiting there for you."

Bild speculated that Bayern may now try to swap Basler for FC Kaiserslautern's playmaker Ciriaco Sforza, who has made critical remarks about trainer Otto Rehhagel recently.

The disco fine is the latest incident in Basler's controversial social life.

In February, Basler got into a scuffle with a guest in a restaurant near Munich. He said the guest had tried to touch his wife, Iris. Last October he was fined by Bayern for spending too much time at the Oktoberfest beer festival.

During the 1997 season, Bayern Munich hired a private detective to watch his whereabouts.

He was dropped from the German national team after a poor performance in a friendly last season was attributed to his staying up late playing cards the night before.

The incident is more unwelcome publicity for Bayern Munich, known as "FC Hollywood" for the prima donna behavior of some of their star players.

Bayern President Franz Beckenbauer was philosophical about the player whose goals helped the team to the Champions League final last season where it was narrowly beaten by Manchester United.

"Footballers deal with their frustrations in different ways. One guy will put on his training gear and go for a run in the forest. Another guy will go to the disco," Beckenbauer said.

Sevilla drops home game after bottle-throwing

Sevilla will have to play one home match away from their Sanchez Pizjuan stadium after a bottle was thrown at a referee's assistant during their opening Spanish league game of the season.

The Spanish Football Federation's disciplinary committee have also fined the club 350,000 pesetas (US$2,22O) for the incident which occurred during a 2-2 draw with Real Sociedad and resulted in the assistant needing treatment.

"Any incident that results in the match officials being put in physical danger must be regarded as serious," the RFEF said in a statement on Tuesday.

The RFEF also handed out a four-match ban to Atletico Madrid defender Jose Antonio Chamot for his red card during Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Real Sociedad.

Chamot was sent off for reacting violently to a tackle from Spanish international Francisco de Pedro.

Peternac threatens to take Valladolid to court

Croatian striker Alen Peternac has threatened to take Valladolid to court for restraint of trade after being left out of the Spanish club's squad for its first two games of the season.

Valladolid told coach Gregorio Manzano not to select Peternac after negotiations over an extension to his contract, which runs out in June 2000, broke down.

"We are interested only in players who show a long-term interest in the club," a Valladolid spokesman said on Tuesday.

Peternac claims he accepted a new deal earlier this summer only for the club to reduce their offer.

"I've put the matter in the hands of my lawyer," Peternac said. "The club have to allow their players to carry out their profession.

"The club have put my professional reputation into question."

Valladolid said it would not comment until it had had a chance to study Peternac's remarks.

This episode is the latest in an increasingly acrimonious dispute which saw Valladolid fining the former Croatia Zagreb striker for returning overweight after the summer break.

Peternac has been at Valladolid for five years, scoring 55 league goals.

Roma pursues Leverkusen's Brazilian Emerson

Italian side AS Roma confirmed on Tuesday it was trying to pry Brazilian international midfielder Emerson Ferreira from Bayer Leverkusen.

"The two clubs are in contact. Indeed it's fair to say there is more than just contact," a Roma spokesman said.

"Emerson is a player Roma have been looking at over the whole summer. The possibility of signing him appeared to have died but now we're in talks again. It remains to be seen however, if Leverkusen want to sell."

The spokesman said a Roma representative was in Germany to talk to Leverkusen officials while Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller, who played for Roma for five seasons from 1987-1992, was in Rome.

Voeller was thought to be in Italy primarily to watch Lazio, which travel to Germany to play Leverkusen in a European Champions League match on September 14.

But Rome-based newspaper Corriere della Sera said Voeller would also drop in on his old club to discuss the transfer of Emerson, 23, whose previous clubs include Gremio of Porte Alegre in Botofogo of Rio de Janeiro. Emerson has 15 Brazilian caps.

The paper said Roma were willing to pay 40 billion lire (US$21.76 million) for the uncompromising defensive midfielder.

It said Leverkusen were interested in three Roma second team midfielders -- Yugoslav Ivan Tomic, Russian Dmitri Alenitchev and Argentine Gustavo Bartelt.

Meanwhile, disgruntled AS Roma midfielder Dmitry Alenichev does not think he has a future at the Italian club.

"This season, with the arrival of [new coach Fabio] Capello it's just got worse for me,' the Russian international, who saw limited action in his Serie A debut season, was quoted as saying in Tuesday's edition of Sport-Express.

"I feel like I will not play in the first team any longer."

Alenichev, who arrived in Moscow on Monday for Russia's European group four qualifier against Armenia, said he is not getting a fair deal from Capello compared with his Italian teammate in the Roma midfield.

"Even if [Francesco] Totti plays badly, he is still put in the starting line-up," he said. "This has to do with money as well as the fans' interest."

Bordeaux, Marseille beat transfer deadline

Champions Girondins Bordeaux and runners-up Olympique Marseille beat the French transfer deadline with last minute deals on Monday.

Bordeaux signed Strasbourg playmaker and former France international Corentins Martins to replace Stephane Ziani, out for a minimum of six weeks with a broken calf.

Marseille transferred defender Eric Decroix and midfielder Jocelyn Gourvennec -- at odds with coach Rolland Courbis -- to struggling Montpellier.

Marseille are about to recruit Argentine Ariel Alfredo Montenegro, signed from Huracan earlier this season but loaned to Belgrano Cordoba.

The former European champions also formalized contracts with two young Argentine players from River Plate, Duego Placente and Guillermo Pereyra, but they will not appear until December at the earliest.

Galatasaray, Greek club schedule earthquake beneft

Turkish champion Galatasaray will play PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece in a friendly on Thursday to raise money for victims of Turkey's earthquake.

"All the proceeds will go to the earthquake relief effort," Galatasaray spokesman Turgay Vardar told Reuters on Tuesday. The match will be played in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.

Normally tense relations between Turkey and Greece have eased in the wake of the earthquake. Greece sent large amounts of aid.

PAOK was formed by ethnic Greeks who left Istanbul earlier this century and settled in Thessaloniki following one of the recurring disputes between the two neighbors.

The Turkish league has been postponed until September 10 as a mark of respect for more than 14,000 people killed by the August 17 earthquake.

Belarus without key players for Wales Euro 2000 qualifier

Belarus will be without several key players for Saturday's European championship group one qualifier against Wales.

Coach Mikhail Vergeenko, who named his 21-man squad on Tuesday, will be missing Spartak Moscow midfielder Miroslav Romashchenko because of injury, plus BATE Borisov striker Nikolai Ryndyuk and Dynamo Kiev's midfield pair of Valentin Belkevich and Alexander Khatskevich.

Dynamo Moscow defender Erik Yakhimovich will sit out Saturday's match because of two yellow cards but will be available for the game against Switzerland four days later.

Belarus are bottom of their group with two points from five games. Italy are top with 14 from six matches followed by Denmark and Switzerland with eight.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Gennady Tumilovich (Zhemchuzhina Sochi), Yuri Afanasenko (Dynamo Minsk), Vladimir Selkin (Gomel)

Defenders: Sergei Gurenko (AS Roma), Andrei Ostrovsky and Sergei Shtanyuk (both Dynamo Moscow), Andrei Lavrik (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexander Lukhvich (Torpedo Moscow), Igor Tarlovsky (Alania Vladikavkaz), Vladimir Sheleg (Sokol Saratov), Alexander Khrapkovsky (Dynamo Minsk)

Midfielders: Radislav Orlovsky (Torpedo Moscow), Alexander Kulchiy (Dynamo Moscow), Vasily Baranov (Spartak Moscow), Alexander Chaika (Alania Vladikavkaz), Vyacheslav Gerashchenko (Chernomorets Novorossiisk), Vadim Skripchenko (BATE Borisov)

Forwards: Pyotr Kachuro (Sheffield United), Maxim Romashchenko (Dynamo Moscow), Vladimir Makovsky (Baltika Kaliningrad), Valery Stripeikis (Slavia Mozyr).

CSKA Moscow coach gets confidence vote

CSKA Moscow coach Oleg Dolmatov has received a vote of confidence from his boss despite a string of bad results.

Club director general Shakhrudi Dadakhanov countered the clamor for his resignation by saying: "The board still backs Dolmatov as coach.

We're not about to dismantle our team, not yet anyway. We'll evaluate the team's performance at year's end."

Dadakhanov's comments came after after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Rotor Volgograd halted three successive defeats.

In spite of the support, Dolmatov's assistant Vyacheslav Chanov was dismissed and top scorer Sergei Semak was stripped of the captaincy in favor of fellow Russia international Yevgeny Varlamov.

The army side has struggled to recapture its form of a year ago when they finished second behind Spartak Moscow in the Russian championship.

They were eliminated from the Champions League in the qualifying stage and currently occupy fourth place in the premier division, 21 points off the pace.

"One thing is for sure, I've learned my lessons this year," said Dolmatov. "Now our goal is not to win (the title) but simply to survive."

Reggina stadium may not be ready for Serie A home debut

Italian Serie A newcomer Reggina could be forced to play its first ever top flight home game away from their own stadium in Reggio Calabria.

Redevelopment work at the clubs Granillo stadium is behind schedule and according to the daily Gazzetta dello Sport, the stadium is still a building site and is unlikely to be able to host Reggina's clash with Fiorentina on September 11.

The mayor of Reggio Calabria, told the paper that the modernisation of the stadium was still in progress and added: "I believe there is a 60 percent chance that the game will played here."

Italian Football League inspectors will visit the stadium on Thursday and make a decision on whether the ground is in a suitable condition to host the match.

One factor which may work against Reggina is that the visiting Fiorentina supporters have one of the worst reputations in Italy for creating trouble.

Should the stadium not be ready in time, the game is likely to be moved to a nearby venue such as Palermo or Catanzaro.

Reggina spent all of their 75-year existence in the lower divisions until they won promotion from Serie B last term.

Despite few pundits giving them any chance of survival the club opened their Serie A account on Sunday with an impressive draw against Juventus in Turin, which prompted street celebrations in the southern Italian coastal town.

 

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