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Italy, Wales prepare for showdown

Italy can go top of Group 9 and take a big step closer to the Euro 2004 championships by defeating current leaders Wales at the San Siro in Milan today.

The match, which is expected to attract an 85,000 capacity crowd, will almost certainly decide who qualifies automatically for the tournament in Portugal next summer.

Wales are top of the table with 12 points, two ahead of Italy and four clear of third-placed Serbia and Montenegro.

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni, whose team crashed out of the World Cup last year after losing to co-hosts South Korea in the second round, is determined to douse the Welsh dragons' fire.

"We have to win at all costs," said the 64-year-old who has been in charge since Dino Zoff quit following Italy's defeat to France in the Euro 2000 final.

"The wind has changed since the World Cup, but we have to take another step forward against Wales.

"We are expecting a tough battle but we have the quality to get the result we need.

"The team is having a good run and confidence is high. We are also playing in front of our own fans. It will be a special night."

Wales defeated Italy 2-1 in Cardiff in October but dropped their first points in the group after losing to Serbia and Montenegro in Belgrade last month.

Italy are unbeaten in six matches but Wales winger Ryan Giggs is confident of causing another upset against the three-time World Cup winners.

"We beat Italy once and we can beat them again," said the Manchester United star.

"They will remember and be afraid of what they faced at the Millennium Stadium and hopefully we can put on another performance like that."

John Hartson agreed with his Welsh team-mate, insisting a prestigious double over the mighty Italians was far from impossible.

"They will be wary of us, they will remember what happened in Cardiff last year," said the burly Celtic striker, returning to action after a four-month injury lay-off.

"We have great pace and strength out wide, we are very hard to break down and we score goals.

"Ours is a difficult system to play against. They will know about us now, do not worry about that. They will remember us."

AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi is expected to replace the injured Francesco Totti and partner Christian Vieri in Italy's attack, while Cristiano Zanetti is likely to come in for Simone Perrotta. The Chievo midfielder, impressive in Italy's 1-0 friendly win over Germany last month, has been ruled out with a thigh strain.

Wales coach Mark Hughes is hoping to have Craig Bellamy available for today's crunch tie.

The Newcastle forward, whose electric pace carved open the Italy defense last year, has been recovering from a knee injury.
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