Fourteen months on from the final of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, Italy and France will meet again on Saturday at the San Siro, this time in a crucial Group B qualifier for UEFA EURO 2008.
With five group matches still to play, France and Italy occupy first and second place respectively. Yet the heavyweight duo have failed to pull clear at the top, and Scotland and Ukraine remain very much in the mix. This clash between the transalpine neighbours could prove vital in the race to reach the finals, which Austria and Switzerland will co-host next June.
Germany 2006 is now consigned to the history books. In the space of a few short months, the two finalists have had to reshuffle their squads to cope with the retirement of a number of stars, including Zinedine Zidane and Fabien Barthez for France and Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta for Italy.
The two teams now have only one thing in mind - qualifying for next summer's continental showpiece. Italy, who are two points adrift of leaders France, have the most to lose, particularly since they must make the difficult trip to Ukraine the following Wednesday.
Roberto Donadoni's tenure as coach got off to a tricky start with a draw at home to Lithuania followed by defeat in France, but since then the Squadra Azzurra have won five in a row, including three away from home. Any impetus they may have had, however, came to an abrupt halt on 22 August in Budapest, when a modest Hungarian outfit beat the world champions 3-1 in a friendly.
To compound this disappointment, Marco Materazzi injured his thigh during the Hungary setback, ruling the charismatic defender out of the rematch with les Bleus and further reducing Italy's defensive options. Despite having won the UEFA Champions League last May with AC Milan, Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta will not be coming back out of international retirement, putting even more pressure on Fabio Cannavaro in the Italian backline.
New-look defence
One veteran who has answered his country's call is 34-year-old Christian Panucci, three years after winning his last cap and a year after turning down an initial request from Donadoni. The former Monaco defender has being playing in the heart of the Roma defence since the start of the season due to an injury to Juan, leading Donadoni to call up his former AC Milan team-mate.
The move was seen as something of a surprise given the form of up-and-coming stars Andrea Barzagli of Palermo and Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus, perhaps more natural replacements for Materazzi. The coach's decision comes at a time when, in Donadoni's words, "a lot of people are talking about players falling out of love with the national team".
The coach has called on a sizeable 25-man squad for these two all-important ties, particularly since five first-team regulars (Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso, Fabio Grosso, Andrea Pirlo and Gianluca Zambrotta) are one yellow card away from a suspension.
For France, meanwhile, the Zidane era has come to an end, but les Bleus have quietly moved on, younger talents such as Franck Ribery and Samir Nasri slotting in perfectly in Zizou's absence.
While the defence is still gradually being reshuffled, the only real problem facing Raymond Domenech - other than having to follow the match from the stands through suspension - is an embarrassment of riches up front. Quite apart from a star-studded quartet of attacking midfielders (Ribery, Nasri, Sidney Govou and Florent Malouda), he also has to choose from a foursome of world-class centre forwards. Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Nicolas Anelka are household names, while Karim Benzema of Lyon currently tops the Ligue 1 goalscoring charts.
Yet Germany 2006 was further proof that the Azzurri are at their most dangerous with their backs to the wall, and they will relish this opportunity to silence their critics once more. The stage is set for a memorable encounter; one which could go either way.
