ITALY FALL TO NON-QUALIFIERS ITALY�s final warm-up game before the World Cup ended in disaster on Tuesday night when they were beaten by Sweden in Gothenburg. The 1-0 defeat, thanks to a last-minute goal by Kennet Andersson, was Italy�s first of the year and left coach Cesare Maldini admitting they still have work to do in attack. Maldini started the friendly with Roberto Baggio and Fabrizio Ravanelli up front, and it was the former Middlesbrough star who had Italy�s best chance, when he hit the post after 66 minutes. But Maldini hinted neither of them would start Italy�s first World Cup group game against Chile on 11 June. He said: �We played fairly well, but were somewhat weak in attack. I have nothing to regret except the defensive lapse in the final minute which cost the goal. Andersson, as usual, proved he�s very good in the air. It was a warm-up game, a good chance before the World Cup to experiment.� Andersson, who netted the fourth in Sweden�s 4-0 victory over Bulgaria in the 1994 3rd/4th Play-off, will next week lose his distinction of being the last man to have scored in the World Cup finals. Sweden finished third in that World Cup, but then also third in their qualifying group for France, behind Austria and Scotland. Maldini picked Gianluca Pagliuca in goal to give him match practice after he was promoted to first-choice on the back of Angelo Peruzzi�s withdrawal through injury last week but striker Alessandro Del Piero, who is still nursing a thigh injury, did not play. VICTORIOUS AUSTRIANS STILL RAPPED BY MANAGER Italy�s World Cup group rivals Austria failed to impress their coach Herbert Prohaska despite beating 10-man Liechtenstein 6-0 on Tuesday. Toni Polster, who missed a penalty, and Peter Stoeger both struck twice with Dietmar Kuehbauer and Mario Haas also on target but the match became a non-contest when the visitors had Patrick Hefti sent off after just eight minutes. �The team didn't concentrate very well and we were much too hectic,� said Prohaska, who faces Italy in their final group game on 23 June. �We made life difficult for ourselves in the first half by missing so many chances. In the second half we looked a lot better but their red card meant we couldn�t try out all our tactics.� MOROCCO INJURY DOUBTS AHEAD OF LAST FRIENDLY Two key players could miss Morocco�s opening match of the World Cup, against Norway on the evening of the opening day. Midfielder Moustapha Hadji has a fractured toe and defender Nourredine Naybet is nursing a twisted ankle. Manager Henri Michel said: �They are two key players in my squad. Their absence would constitute a huge handicap.� The Moroccans have one more warm-up match, against fellow finalists Chile, in Avignon on Thursday.

FRANCE 98 ROUND-UP   CURRIE HOT ON SCOTS Justin Currie, guitarist with official Scottish World Cup songsters Del Amitri, has staked �50 at 200-1 with bookies William Hill after dreaming that Craig Brown�s men will beat Brazil 1-0 with Roberto Carlos scoring an own goal. Should his dream come true, Currie will not only find himself �10,000 better off but also see his team looking at a second round berth for the first time in history. Obviously though, the rockster woke up before the final whistle and missed Brazil�s last minute equaliser� HEAVEN CAN�T WAIT FOR REGGAE BOYZ WIN Jamaican High Commissioner Derek Heaven is so confident the Reggae Boyz will win the World Cup at the first time of asking that he has staked a �100 wager with William Hill to that effect. At odds of 400-1 Heaven will stand to pocket �40,000 should his unlikely bet come through - not that he�ll see any of it though, as he has generously agreed to donate any winnings to charity. Just how confident are you Derek? LEIGHTON THE OLDEST, OWEN NOT THE YOUNGEST Scotland goalkeeper Jim Leighton, their sole survivor from the 1986 World Cup, is the only player at France 98 who was born 1950s. Leighton, 39, was born on 24 July, 1958. Four players have appeared in the finals aged over 40, three of them goalkeepers � Italy�s Dino Zoff in 1982, England�s Peter Shilton in 1990 and Northern Ireland�s Pat Jennings in 1986. The oldest player of all was Roger Milla of Cameroon when he played in 1994, aged 42, although it is rumoured he was older than this. The youngest player in this World Cup may be British, but it depends on who actually gets to play. Michael Owen, 18, might be the youngest Englishman this century to play for his country at football, but he has possibly lost one distinction with the naming of the final 22s. Cameroon have named a player in their squad who is just 17, uncapped forward Samuel Eto�o. Of course it is possible neither will play, so someone else will become the youngest player in this World Cup, but if Eto�o does get on the pitch he will be only the fourth 17-year-old to do so. Eto�o, born on 10 March, 1981, will follow in the footsteps of Pele in 1958, Eto�o�s compatriot Rigobert Song in 1994 (Song is also in the squad for France), and the youngest ever, player, Northern Ireland�s Norman Whiteside. The then Manchester United forward was just 17 years and 41 days old when he played in 1982

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