High hopes for Gentile giants

By Mark Bennett in Bochum

Four of the last six UEFA European Under-21 Championships have been won by emerging talent from Italy but the coach of this term's Azzurrini, former Juventus FC defender Claudio Gentile, does not view the tag of tournament favourites as a hindrance.

Seeking improvement
On the eve of Italy's opening Group A game against Belarus at the Ruhrstadion, Gentile revealed how he already has his sights set on the tournament's latter stages. "Two years ago we lost in the semis and we obviously want to improve on that," said the 50-year-old coach. "If my players perform at their normal level and we have a little bit of luck then we can go all the way."

Lesson learned
Gentile, however, knows how crucial respecting unfancied opposition can be. He was part of the Italian senior team that failed to win a single group game at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, drawing with Poland, Peru and Cameroon but scraping through to the second stage on goals scored.

'Fully concentrated'
Perhaps reflecting on the close shave which preceded Italy's finest hour, Gentile added: "I have watched them [Belarus] and they have a very good side. They like to play a pressing game and hit opponents on the break. We will have to be fully concentrated."

'No cage'
Italy may boast a string of names familiar to followers of Serie A but Belarussian fans will be looking to key export Aleksandr Gleb of VfB Stuttgart to help cause an early tournament upset. When asked about his plans to stifle Gleb, Gentile said: "We will not try to build a cage around him. We know that he is dangerous, but he will not be marked by a single player."

Glib Gleb
The promise of space to create chances failed to excite Gleb, who explained: "To me it doesn't really matter if I am man-marked or not. Football is football in that sense. If I am marked so be it and if not then that is fine, too."

'Pressure off'
His coach, Yuri Puntus, was equally phlegmatic. "We respect Italy – they are the favourites to win the tournament," he said. "But playing against the favourites takes the pressure off my players and we'd love to upset them. All my players are fit and ready, we will just have to go out there and play our game – no matter who the opponents are."