EURO 2000: Del Piero, Totti lie in wait for Romania

June 22, 2000
SportsServer

BRUSSELS - Italian hitmen Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti will both be waiting for Romania when they emerge from the players' tunnel here on Saturday in the Euro 2000 quarterfinals.

Italy's re-discovered firepower up front has been the suprise of its campaign at Euro 2000 after a poor international season and a late injury to Christian Vieri that ruled its 1998 World Cup hero out of the event.

Dino Zoff's side may be typically Italian in its approach to the competition - basing its game on a solid defense and plenty of ball possession in the middle.

But its ability to build scoring chances, particularly since the recent discovery of midfield star Stefano Fiore, has brought it three consecutive wins.

For a nation not profilic in major events - three goals in three games at Euro 96 and eight goals in five at France 98 - Italy has surprised many by scoring twice in each match at Euro 2000.

Totti and Del Piero, who are rivals for a place in Zoff's starting line-up alongside erratic center-forward Filippo Inzaghi, have both found the target in their last matches.

Italy qualified for the last eight thanks to Totti and Fiore's goals against Belgium, enabling Zoff to give Del Piero his first start against Sweden - an act of faith repaid with the Juventus striker making one goal and scoring the other.

Their prowess has inevitably given Zoff a headache - and the Italian press a field day - over team selection for Saturday's match.

On the night, both men should make an appearance. Zoff will probably start with Totti and then replace him with Del Piero midway through the second half - as he did in both their opening matches.

Inzaghi hasn't scored once in open play at Euro 2000, having only converted a penalty that he dubiously earned against Turkey.

However, his poor form is uncharacteristic for one of the Serie A's top strikers of the last four years, and he may yet sparkle against Romania.

In fact, Zoff will probably field the starting line-up used against Turkey, with Inzaghi and Totti supported by the creative skills of Fiore and the hard work of two other central midfielders - Demetrio Albertini and Antonio Conte.

Juventus pair Gianluca Pessotto and Gianluca Zambrotta will occupy the left and right flanks, moving up to supply crosses and falling back to help out a three-man defence with Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and captain Paolo Maldini.

Francesco Toldo stays between the posts.

By contrast, Romanian coach Emerich Jenei is facing all sorts of problems as he picks his team.

Three of his men who so heroically beat England 3-2 - Adrian Ilie, Cosmin Contra and Chelsea's Dan Petrescu - are suspended.

Another, six-time Romanian Footballer of the Year Gheorghe Popescu ripped a calf muscle in a collision with David Beckham and - barring divine intervention - will be unavailable.

And there are some who would even see the return from suspension of Romania's greatest player ever, 35-year-old playmaker Gheorghe Hagi, as a mixed blessing.

Hagi, with his world-class ball skills and vision, is capable of turning a match at any level with just one shot or a single defense-splitting pass.

However, his overwhelming presence also means that he is the focal point of the team and of its distribution of the ball. Short on mobility, he draws his teammates passes like an irresistable magnet and in so doing, tends to slow down their attacking maneuver and make it more predictable.

Against England, that reference point was forcibly removed by disciplinary officials - and the team won its first ever match at a European championships.

Romania was faster on its feet and was able to attack Kevin Keegan's men from all sides, patiently moving the ball around up front or simply running straight at the England defense from deep positions.

Against Italy, Inter Milan's Adrian Mutu will start with Viorel Moldovan up front. Zoff's men would also be well-advised to keep an eye on midfielders Cristian Chivu and Dorinel Munteanu, who both scored against England.

Saturday's quarterfinal here should certainly see a lot of neat, elegant soccer - despite the risk of it becoming bogged down in the middle.

There will probably be few chances for either side to finish the match off - but in Del Piero and Totti, Italy has two natural born killers.
.