Trapattoni keeps Danes guessing
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Article summary
Giovanni Trapattoni claimed he had not decided on his Italy starting lineup despite giving a hint in training.
Article body
Coach Giovanni Trapattoni insisted today that he had not decided on his lineup for Italy's opening UEFA EURO 2004™ fixture against Denmark despite dropping a hint in a training session in which the fit-again Christian Panucci took part.
Fiore returns
The defender trained today along with midfield player Stefano Fiore after both recovered from slight injuries. Panucci, who is usually deployed by Trapattoni on the right side of a defence which includes Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Gianluca Zambrotta, lined up with a team of regulars against a second-string eleven. Fiore was among the first-team substitutes.
Qualifying success
Cristiano Zanetti, expected to patrol the centre of the Azzurri midfield along with Simone Perrotta, saw the return of Panucci as the cue for the coach to field the side which helped Italy advance from qualifying Group 9. "We managed to qualify for the finals using the 4-2-3-1 formation and I believe there are no reasons for changing it now," Zanetti said.
'Nordic mentality'
Trapattoni, though, refused to divulge his preferred team with the Guimarães game five days away. "I still have time to make my decisions, but from a physical and mental point of view we are all ready," he said. "Denmark are a strong team because they have a Nordic mentality mixed with Latin creativeness, many of their players have experience of leagues like ours. It will difficult to beat them."