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By Keith Weir
LISBON, June 15 - Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni
found himself in a familiar tight corner on Tuesday as the media
sniped over the team's lacklustre Euro 2004 draw with Denmark
and he pondered the fate of one of his top players.
Trapattoni ruled out wholesale changes for Friday's clash
with Sweden but must decide whether to persevere with forward
Alessandro del Piero or start with the younger Antonio Cassano.
The experienced Italian coach ruled out major tactical
changes but said he might make the odd alteration to freshen
things up against the Swedes, who crushed Bulgaria 5-0 in their
first game.
"In the next 48-72 hours we will look at how individual
players are and think about how Sweden will play," he said.
Italy often make slow starts to tournaments and the coach
traditionally finds himself in the firing line as frustration
grows at their inability to overcome less gifted teams.
A selection dilemma over a leading player like Del Piero is
also par for the course in a squad with an embarrassment of
riches.
"After so many hopes and fine words, we are now facing up to
the reality of Euro 2004," said a philosophical Trapattoni, the
most successful Italian club coach of the modern era.
Trapattoni is seeking to crown his career with glory at
international level after his team disappointed at the 2002
World Cup.
His glittering record does not spare him barbs from the
media.
Italian journalists questioned whether Italy had shown the
same level of commitment as the Danes and asked whether they had
trained hard enough for the tournament.
Trapattoni had rather invited the second criticism by
insisting that the heat was one of the factors behind Italy's
poor showing on Monday.
Trapattoni said he was wary of the threat posed by Sweden on
the counter-attack and that his team would not adopt a cavalier
approach.
"We want to win, but we don't want to end up like Bulgaria,"
he said, singling out Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic as a
particular danger.
Midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, who came on as a second-half
substitute, said it was up to the players to put things right.
"No one wants to go out in the first round," he told
reporters. "If we do, then the press will slaughter us and
rightly so."
"When we put on the Italian shirt, we have a great
responsibility. It's up to us to go out there and show what we
can do."