Donadoni soldiers on without skipper

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is busy exploring his defensive options after it was confirmed that captain Fabio Cannavaro will miss the finals through injury.

Systems tested
With centre-back Cannavaro ruled out after sustaining ankle ligament damage in training on Monday, Donadoni returned to the drawing board and came up with two possible defensive templates. During Tuesday's training session he tried out a new three-man rearguard formed by Christian Panucci, Giorgio Chiellini – whose challenge inadvertently contributed to ending Cannavaro's tournament – and the skipper's replacement, Alessandro Gamberini of ACF Fiorentina. Then came a back four comprising Gianluca Zambrotta, Andrea Barzagli, Marco Materazzi and Fabio Grossi, with some observers tipping the second system to be trusted against the Netherlands on 9 June.

Keeping the faith
Donadoni said: "This team has its own identity and we are not going to change it because we have lost one player, albeit an important one. I have complete faith in the players here. Both Barzagli and Materazzi have done well in recent years. I am confident in the options I have and whoever replaces Fabio will know exactly what they are doing. We have experienced players who are ready to step up."