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Maccarone in for injured Inzaghi

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has called up Massimo Maccarone replace Filippo Inzaghi.

Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has called up Middlesbrough FC striker Massimo Maccarone to replace the injured Filippo Inzaghi for Wednesday's EURO 2004™ qualifier away to Wales.

Left foot injury
Inzaghi returned to Milan for treatment on his injured left foot following last night's 1-1 draw with Group 9 rivals Yugoslavia, leaving Trapattoni to turn to Maccarone. "I spoke with Maccarone before the match against Yugoslavia and he will join our team tonight," said the coach.

Impressive form
Maccarone made his senior international debut in a friendly against England in March but missed out a place in the Italy squad for the summer's FIFA World Cup. The 23-year-old striker has impressed since moving to Middlesbrough from Empoli Calcio in the summer, scoring four goals in nine matches so far for the English Premiership side.

Time to recover
Inzaghi played the entire 90 minutes of the match against Yugoslavia in Naples but after consulting national team doctor Andrea Ferretti, it was agreed the injury required immediate treatment. "My foot hurts," said the AC Milan striker. "I need to take a break in order to recover.

'Sad to stop'
"I'll probably also miss Milan's next league match [away to Atalanta BC]. It's sad to stop especially because I've been in fantastic form but I have to do it if I want to get over this injury." Inzaghi has scored 15 goals in nine competitive matches for the Rossoneri this season.

Injured list
The 29-year-old Inzaghi's absence is a further setback for Trapattoni who is already missing two other key forwards in Christian Vieri and Francesco Totti. These are not the only absences either as Italy are also without Luigi Di Biagio, Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Coco, Gianluca Pessotto, Cristiano Zanetti, Marco Materazzi and Francesco Toldo.

 

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