Attack of Socceroos against Italian defence
26/6/2006 14:54
Italy and Australia will play for a place in the quarter-finals of the
FIFA World Cup in Kaiserslautern today at 17:00. It's an opportunity to see
whether the Socceroos under a magic Guus Hiddink could breach the solid Italian
defence.
"Every team wants to defend well and Italy are the best at that.
They are in good shape, and have a lot of experience. Central defence is their
strength. They still need to work hard on their offensive play, although they
are picking up the pace and Francesco Totti is getting better with each game.
Also, in Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso they have two very good holding
midfielders", said of Italy Ka-Ming KWOK, a member of FIFA's technical
group.
Italy and Australia have only met once before, at the 2000 Olympic
Football Tournament. The match was played in Melbourne and was settled by an
81st-minute Andrea Pirlo goal. Of the current squad, Rino Gattuso and Gianluca
Zambrotta also played that day, against seven of the current Australian crop:
Stan Lazaridis, Josip Skoko, Brett Emerton (who will be suspended), Mark Viduka,
Vince Grella, Marco Bresciano and Jason Culina.
Australia have dropped
goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac. Coach Hiddink said he had still not decided on his
starting lineup for the match but confirmed that Kalac would make way for Mark
Schwarzer in goal.
Kalac took Schwarzer's place for the final Group F match
against Croatia on Thursday, which ended 2-2. However, he made a serious blunder
that almost cost the Socceroos a place in the second round, fumbling an
innocuous low drive from Croatia captain Niko Kovac into his own
net.
Australia have also got a problem trying to find a replacement for
defensive midfielder Brett Emerton, who is suspended after being sent off
against Croatia.
"We have to deal with that and try and find a solution,"
Hiddink said. "He's one of the fittest players in this World Cup and it's very
difficult to replace him."
Marcello Lippi's Italy came top of a group that
was recognized as one of the toughest at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany,
beating Ghana in the opening fixture and drawing a tough encounter with the USA
before knocking the Czech Republic out of the tournament.
Morale is therefore
sky-high in the Azzurri camp going into the showdown with the Socceroos,
particularly in view of the fact that their half of the draw does not look
particularly hazardous, making a Final appearance seem a distinct
possibility.
Not everything in the Italy camp is rosy, however. Coach Lippi
will have to do without promising young midfielder Daniele De Rossi, who was
suspended after being sent off against the USA, and classy defender Alessandro
Nesta, who has been ruled out with a muscle strain. Marco Materazzi, goalscorer
and Budweiser Man of the Match against the Czech Republic, should step into the
breach.
The rest of the squad have all been passed fit, and Lippi's thoughts
will be focused on his strikers, with a particular emphasis on Totti. The coach
will have to decide whether to keep faith with the Roma playmaker, or restore
Luca Toni to the starting line-up. Another alternative would be Filippo Inzaghi,
scorer of the second goal against the Czech Republic.
xinhua
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