Divine Ponytail's final cut

By Paolo Menicucci

Two strong contenders for UEFA EURO 2004™ may be meeting in Genoa on Wednesday, but in Italy the friendly against Spain is all about one man - Roberto Baggio.

Swansong postponed?
'The Divine Ponytail' has been recalled at the age of 37 after five years out of the international set-up, for what has been billed as his 56th and final cap before a likely retirement this summer. However, Baggio's form this season for Brescia Calcio has been such that even Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has hinted that this may not be his swansong.

'Plenty of time'
Trapattoni said of Baggio: "I do not believe that he is going to retire so soon and you never know with all these injuries to other players. There is still plenty of time until EURO 2004™. Only God knows what will happen in the future - but I am not influenced by the media at all. If I was, I would bring at least 30 players with me to Portugal."

'Exciting night'
Baggio, who has scored 27 international goals, is only looking to Wednesday night. "I will try to give my best against Spain as I have always done with every team I played during my career," he said. "Then I want to enjoy in the best possible way this great moment and this fantastic gesture that Italian football has decided to give me. It will be an exciting night for me".

Materazzi chance
Marco Materazzi is to take the place of the injured Alessandro Nesta in defence, alongside captain Fabio Cannavaro. Christian Panucci and Gianluca Zambrotta will be the full-backs. Stefano Fiore, Simone Perrotta and Andrea Pirlo are in midfield while Baggio takes the place of the injured Francesco Totti in a 4-3-1-2 formation led by Marco Di Vaio and Christian Vieri.

Late withdrawals
Meanwhile, Spain coach Iñaki Sáez has had to make three changes to his original squad due to late injury withdrawals. Full-back Carles Puyol hurt his ankle in FC Barcelona's 2-1 win at Real Madrid CF on Sunday while later that evening central defender Carlos Marchena bruised his knee for Valencia CF.

Defensive epidemic
"I am always worried about withdrawals," Sáez said. "It seems we have a bit of an epidemic among our central defenders. It is one of the positions in which we have a shortage."

Joaquín recalled
Another Barcelona player, potential debutant Luis García, has a groin strain, meaning a recall after two games out for fellow winger Joaquín Sánchez. "He has the chance to show he has improved," Sáez said. "I expect great things from Joaquín, let us see whether he is capable of them."
 
Probable substitutions
With Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona all still competing hard for the Primera División title and both Valencia and RC Deportivo La Coruña in line for European honours, Sáez admits he may not look to stretch all his players for 90 minutes. "Given the state of play in the league at the moment we will change things around a bit," he said.