Antonio Cassano has been tipped to start for Italy against France in the old rivals' Euro 2008 Group C survival battle on Tuesday night.
Coach Roberto Donadoni is expected to turn to the tricky forward to penetrate the French defence in a match the world champs cannot lose.
Donadoni said he had been ''impressed'' by Cassano's cameos in last week's 3-0 defeat to Netherlands and 1-1 draw with Romania.
''I think he's a top player,'' the coach said.
''It's possible he will play''.
Pundits reckon Donadoni could bring back Antonio Di Natale in a three-pronged attack with Luca Toni.
To compensate for such an adventurous formation he would drop Andrea Pirlo and stiffen the midfield with Gennaro Gattuso and Massimo Ambrosini, battling on either side of Daniele De Rossi, Italy watchers think.
Donadoni has dismissed the notion that Netherlands will field a weakened side so Romania win and eliminate both of the World Cup finalists - a 'stitch-up' like the alleged 'biscotto' that landed Italy out of Euro 2004 despite a great last-minute Cassano goal.
On Monday Donadoni's old AC Milan team mate and occasional golf partner Marco Van Basten, the Netherlands coach, assured Italy a ''real'' Dutch side would contest the game against Romania.
''We take tomorrow's match very seriously and I'll field the best formation to beat Romania,'' Van Basten told reporters.
The Milan and Holland great declined to answer questions about the line-up aside from saying that Ajax scoring sensation Klass-Jan Huntelaar ''could'' come in for Real Madrid veteran Ruud van Nistelrooy.
At 24 Huntelaar has already had a huge impact on the Dutch game, scoring 33 goals in 31 matches in 2005/06 and topping the Dutch league's scoring charts last year with 33 goals from 34 games.
Van Nistelrooy said he was looking forward to seeing his former Real Madrid team mate Cassano playing.
''When I trained with him I saw him up close and appreciated his quality. He's a great player''.
Italy will be through to the quarter-finals if they beat France and the Dutch beat Romania.
A score draw of 1-1 or 2-2 would also be enough, provided Romania lose.
