Italy – C. Maldini: “The further we go, the more we become aware of what we are capable of”

Comments from the Parc des sports, Senlis after the ITALY team training session

“I haven’t yet made a final decision on the composition of the team. I don’t know how FRANCE will play, how they will line up, and whether they will have fully recovered from their match against PARAGUAY. As regards my players, I’m confident: they are in good condition physically and they want to put on a good performance. Alessandro DEL PIERO (10) has recovered well and will be able to play tomorrow. It’s true that we are the away team but we’re used to this type of match. This quarter final reminds me a little of the World Cup qualifier against ENGLAND at Wembley which we won 1-0. FRANCE are the home team and will want to attack. It will be up to us to adapt to that and stop them. Our main strength is our self-belief. The further we go, the more we become aware of what we are capable of. Personally, I wasn’t surprised that FRANCE had so much trouble winning against PARAGUAY who are very well organised in defence. The French tried everything and deserved to win: they make a formidable team. Tomorrow’s match will be very tactical and could be decided by one piece of skill: both teams have a lot of players capable of making the difference. In any case, I know Aimé JACQUET’s team as well as he knows mine, we won’t have any surprises up our sleeves. Finally, no Italian team has ever been eliminated in the quarter final of a World Cup, but that’s no guarantee: all good things come to an end”.