Trapattoni gives duo their chance

Midfield players Matteo Brighi of Juventus FC and Massimo Oddo of S.S. Lazio both received their first call-ups to the Italy squad for Wednesday's friendly against Slovenia.

Trio recalled
Coach Giovanni Trapattoni named the pair in a 22-man squad for the match in Trieste, as well as recalling Milan AC midfield player Massimo Ambrosini, Parma AC striker Marco Di Vaio and Internazionale FC defender Daniele Adani, who were all overlooked for the FIFA World Cup finals.

Zauri gets his chance
Young Atalanta BC defender Luciano Zauri also received another chance in the team and could be given a spot on the left flank as an alternative to Francesco Coco. Trapattoni has been unable to call on the injured trio of Francesco Totti, Cristiano Zanetti and Gianluca Zambrotta, while defender Paolo Maldini has retired from the national side.

Di Livio ommitted
Veteran midfield player Angelo Di Livio, a member of the World Cup squad, looks to have played his last game for the country after being ommitted. Di Livio will play fourth division football this season with Florentia Viola - the club born out of the bankrupt AC Fiorentina. AS Roma striker Marco Delvecchio, who was a non-playing member of the squad in Korea/Japan, has also been left out.

New boys
Brighi, who can play in the centre of midfield or on the left, impressed last season on loan at Bologna FC and the 21-year-old is expected to play a major role for Juventus after returning to Turin this summer. Oddo moved to Lazio in the close season from Hellas-Verona FC and is likely to stand in for Zambrotta on the right.

Warm-up
The friendly will act as a warm-up for Italy's first EURO 2004™ qualifier against Azerbaijan in Baku on 7 September. The Azzurri's other opponents in Group 9 are Yugoslavia, Finland and Wales.

Italy squad
Buffon, Toldo, Adani, Materazzi, Cannavaro, Iuliano, Nesta, Coco, Panucci, Ambrosini, Brighi, Di Biagio, Doni, Gattuso, Oddo, Tomassi, Zauri, Del Piero, Montella, Inzaghi, Di Vaio, Vieri.