EURO 2000: England paid price for old tactics, says Italian star

June 23, 2000
SportsServer

By Trevor Huggins

GEEL, Belgium - Italy's new creative star Stefano Fiore said on Friday that England has paid the price at Euro 2000 for failing to develop a more modern, skillful approach to football.

England have been in the dock since their 3-2 exit to Romania - Italy's opponents in the quarterfinals on Saturday - being widely accused of a lack of technique and an inability to play a technical passing game.

Fiore has meanwhile been the revelation of the Italian side, winning a first-team place since a highly promising debut in late April - barely a month before Zoff picked his squad for these championships.

Asked if Euro 2000 had been a victory for technique over toughness, he said: "I think so. I think that nearly all the teams who are in the quarterfinals love playing with the ball on the ground.

"And I think that's a good thing for football in general, because it means we're turning back a bit to the way things used to be."

Asked why he thought England and Germany had been knocked out of the tournament, he said: "These are teams who haven't really changed their way of playing down the years, they've never renewed their approach.

"And they've paid a very high price for that."

As for his own performances, Fiore said: "I'm really delighted that so far I've repaid the faith that Zoff has shown in me. I hope that I can do even better."

Looking ahead to Saturday's match, he added: "It will be difficult, even though we'll be starting out as favorites. If we play like we know that we can, we ought to get through to the next round."

A place in the semifinals will depend on Italy keeping up their promising performances in attack - with two goals scored in each match so far.

Alessandro Del Piero, who is likely to watch fellow striker Francesco Totti in action from the subs' bench, was determined not to cause any ripples.

"Everybody is committed ... and nobody sees being on the bench as a rejection," he said. "Anyone who's sent on later can be decisive - even in the space of just a few minutes... 15 minutes is enough for someone to dream of turning a match."

And toeing the team line, Del Piero stressed: "The primary objective is a victory for Italy, and not anyone's individual situation."

Filippo Inzaghi, who hasn't scored a goal in open play since Italy beat Wales 4-0 last June, echoed that view.

"I hope I do score, but I think the important thing is for Italy to win," said the Juventus striker. "If Inzaghi gets a goal, so much the better.

The other part of the equation is Italy's defense, which has so far held up well - conceding just two goals in three games.

Central defender Alessandro Nesta said: "Romania are good up front - they scored three times against England. They're not to be underestimated in terms of attacking potential.

"But we'll be looking to keep things tight at the back, like we have done for the last three matches."
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