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France faces Italy in clash of styles |
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July 2, 2000
ROTTERDAM (AP) - A team hungry to win meets a side desperate not to lose in the Euro 2000 final.
France has reached Sunday's clash in style, adding attacking prowess to the defensive stability that was the foundation of its World Cup triumph. But if anyone can halt the French steamroller, it is the superbly-organized, if not always attractive, Italians.
"The Italians don't really produce an attractive game," said Patrick Vieira who had a brief, unhappy spell at AC Milan before transferring to Arsenal. "All that matters to the Italians is to defend well. After that, they leave three players to take care of matters up front."
With its best striker Christian Vieri injured, Italy has shown only occasional flashes of attacking purpose at Euro 2000.
For the most part it has resorted to fastidiously negative tactics, most intensely in its semifinal win on penalties against the Netherlands when it barely came out of its defensive shell for two hours.
The late Helenio Herrera, legendary developer of "Catenaccio" at Inter Milan in the 1960s, would have been proud.
Italy has the meanest defense in the competition, having conceded only two goals, and some in the French camp fear than Dino Zoff's team might defend in depth in Rotterdam.
"Italy is still Italy with its 'Catenaccio.' We have seen a lot of goals in this Euro. Italy has scored a few and I hope it will be an open final and that Italy will approach the match by playing with some attacking ideas," said Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit.
France starts as the overwhelming favorite to become the first world champion to lift the European Championship. It has a stronger team than two years ago and doesn't appear to have any weaknesses.
"They are another great team," said Italian defender Alessandro Nesta. "We'll need another great game to beat them."
But Italy, European champion back in 1968, won't be underestimated by the French.
The Azzurri is looking to avenge a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to France in the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup. They aren't the most attractive to watch but Dino Zoff's men have shown all the traditional Italian virtues of determination, big match temperament and world class organization.
The win against the Netherlands, when it played for nearly 90 minutes with only ten men, was a perfect example.
Zoff hopes that the victory didn't take too much out of the players.
"We spent of lot of energy but so did the French in their game," he said. "They had one more day of rest than us."
Both lineups are in question.
France, European champion in 1984, left out Christophe Dugarry and Youri Djorkaeff against Portugal in the semis, but both players could force their way back to face Italy.
For the Azzurri, the surprise inclusion of Alessandro Del Pierro has added to speculation about team selection, with Francesco Totti also battling for a place. Zoff pulled a surprise by bringing on Marco Delvecchio as a substitute against the Dutch and the Roma striker could challenge Filippo Inzaghi for a starting place.
Gianluca Pessotto is the likely replacement for Gianluca Zambrotta, who was sent off against the Netherlands.
France expects that the likes of Pessotto will spend most of their time behind the ball.
"Italian players just want to win the game, they don't care about how they play. That's why in every competition they are at the top level," Vieira added.
Italy knows the world champion inside out: no fewer than 13 of the French squad have been signed to Italian clubs at some stage in their career.
But the French are confident that their talent will come through.
"Italy will wait for us to play," said Bixente Lizarazu. "But France so far has won its matches in tough situations. It has the mentality to win like that again in the final."
Expected lineups:
France - Fabien Barthez; Lilian Thuram, Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Bixente Lizarazu; Patrick Vieira, Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane, Emmanuel Petit; Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka.
Italy - Francesco Toldo; Mark Iuliano, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini; Gianluca Pessotto, Demetrio Albertini, Luigi Di Biagio, Stefano Fiore; Filippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Del Piero.
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