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New star spells the end for Baggio and Zola Published: April 20, 1998
Italy are moving towards the World Cup without Roberto Baggio and Gianfranco Zola. Both players were left out of the squad announced by coach Cesare Maldini for the friendly in Parma on Wednesday against Paraguay and the pair of veteran strikers look unlikely to make the squad as Alessandro Del Piero's outstanding form begins to dominate Italian thinking about their World Cup chances. Juventus defender Mark Iuliano is given his first international call-up and was the player directly recommended by injured captain Ciro Ferrara to take his place in the national sie after Ferrara broke his leg in February. Internazionale defender Luigi Sartor is also in the squad. The star of the Italian side and the coming bid for the World Cup is likely to be Alessandro Del Piero who is having a sensational season for Juve and who has scored 31 goals this season as he inspires the Turin side to a possible double of Scudetto and European Cup. He plays in the same position as Zola and Baggio and his form is preventing a recall for those two stars. No player on earth can currently match the form of 'Magic Alex' and his presence will dictate the attacking options for Maldini this summer. |