FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Italy coach Cesare Maldini selected Roberto Baggio of Bologna and Inter Milan veteran Giuseppe Bergomi in naming a 21-strong World Cup squad on Thursday, but will decide later on the fitness of Alessandro Del Piero, injured in the Champions Cup final. Del Piero picked up a groin strain in the final seconds of Juventus’ 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in Amsterdam on Wednesday and the star now awaits tests Friday before receiving the green light for the World Cup, where Italy face Chile, Cameroon and Austria in Group B. Juve officials did not give any details about the seriousness of the injury, but team doctor Riccardo Agricola and colleagues were to examine the striker on Friday.

If Del Piero appears to be a niggling doubt up front, Maldini is putting his faith in experience at the back in selecting Bergomi, now 34, who was in the winning team which beat Germany in the 1982 final. Bergomi now enters his fifth World Cup.

Should the unthinkable happen and Del Piero has to pull out, Maldini has other aces up his sleeve in the form of Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola, as well as Parma’s Enrico Chiesa and Pierluigi Casiraghi of Lazio. In selecting Baggio, who has lost his place since missing his spot kick in the 1994 final penalty shoot out against Brazil, Maldini has meanwhile given way to popular fervour.

Baggio did in fact return in place of Zola against Poland in April last year and scored a superb goal in a 3-0 victory at Naples. And this season the 31-year-old has been in effervescent form for Bologna, scoring a personal best 22 goals.

That contrasts with the poor recent form of Casiraghi and Parma, which has played into Baggio’s hands.

It had long appeared Baggio was a spent force last summer after two unhappy years at AC Milan, but he is now very much in demand and could even end up alongside Ronaldo at Inter Milan.

The following 21 players are in the provisional squad:

Keepers: Angelo Peruzzi (Juventus), Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), Gianluca Pagliuca (Inter Milan)

Defenders: Giuseppe Bergomi (Inter Milan), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Alessandro Costacurta (Ac Milan), Alessandro Nesta (Lazio), Fabio Cannavaro (Parma), Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus), Moreno Torricelli (Juventus)

Midfielders: Dino Baggio (Parma), Demetrio Albertini (AC Milan), Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea), Francesco Moriero (Inter Milan), Angelo Di Livio (Juventus), Luigi Di Biagio (AS Roma), Sandro Cois (Fiorentina)

Strikers: Christian Vieri (Atletico Madrid), Roberto Baggio (Bologna), Fabrizio Ravanelli (Marseille), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus)