Juventus icon Alessandro Del Piero is hoping his recent form will get him back into the Italy squad for Euro 2008.
''I'd really love to get to Euro 2008 and I'm doing all I can to get there,'' the 33-year-old told Italian radio a day after hitting a hat-trick in Juve's 4-0 win at Atalanta.
Del Piero, said his relationship with Italy coach Roberto Donadoni was ''really very good'' despite his being left out of the Italy squad since a poor game against France in September.
''Our only difference is over tactics,'' the Juve veteran said, referring to his well-known preference for playing as first or second striker.
Donadoni has tended to use him as a midfield flanker.
''There are players who can do that job much better than me,'' he said.
Juve and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on Monday added his voice to the growing chorus calling for Donadoni to give Del Piero another chance.
''The Del Piero of the last few months deserves a call-up for the European championships, without any doubt,'' he said.
''He's sensational right now, a world champion who works his heart out and never gives up,'' Buffon said.
Asked Monday what kind of spot he's looking for in the Italy set-up, Del Piero replied: ''I'm ambitious''.
Del Piero has refound the scoring touch of ten years ago, when he notched up his best-ever seasonal total of 22 goals.
His hat-trick against Atalanta stretched his club record to 237 goals, more than 50 ahead of club legends Giampiero Boniperti and Roberto Bettega. He recently broke legendary libero Gaetano Scirea's appearance tally of 552 games.
Playing in an all-out forward role appears to have rejuvenated the World Cup winner who now lies third in the marksmen's standings with 17 goals, two behind top scorer Marco Borriello of Genoa.
Borriello, who has had a superb season, would appear to have booked a Euro 2008 berth as back-up to unquestioned No.1 frontman Luca Toni.
But La Gazzetta dello Sport speculated Monday that Donadoni could make room for Del Piero by including him among the midfielders in place of Roma's Alberto Aquilani, or even dropping Del Piero's club mate, utility back Giorgio Chiellini to allow for six forwards and only seven defenders.
However, La Gazzetta and other papers argued that Donadoni should also take another look at 'bad boy' Antonio Cassano who has swung straight back into gear for Sampdoria after serving a five-match ban for verbally abusing a referee.
Cassano opened the scoring in Samp's 3-0 win over Udinese Sunday.
AS for Del Piero, most of the press appear to agree is close to the levels he showed before a serious injury he sustained ten years ago.
''He looks like the phenomenon he was before 1998,'' La Repubblica said Monday, quoting Juve coach Claudio Ranieri as saying, ''right now he's the most in-form Italian striker''.
Last year, soon after dropping him, Donadoni praised the way the Juve captain was accepting Ranieri's decisions not to play him from the start of matches.
''Ale never argues, he just gets on with it,'' said Donadoni.
''He knows all he has to do is keep working hard and the results will speak louder than words''.
Since then, as Del Piero pushed Italy back-up winger Vincenzo Iaquinta out of the Juve starting line-up, Donadoni has repeated his advice that Del Piero should be ''patient''.
Some pundits think the Italy coach might even be swayed by Del Piero's inclusion in the Euro 2008 Italy line-up that recently appeared in the famous Panini sticker album.
''We think Del Piero's going to make it,'' a Panini spokesman said.
Del Piero has won five Serie A titles in his 13 years with the Turin giants - plus another two revoked because of two ex-Juve executives' lead role in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.
Unlike many stars, he did not jump ship when Juve were relegated to Serie B because of Calciopoli, and led them back to the top flight in one go.
In recent years he has accepted spells on the bench with a widely praised grace.
At the 2006 World Cup, Del Piero came on late to score a memorable clincher against Germany to seal Italy's place in their victorious final against France.
Del Piero told the radio interviewer Monday the World Cup triumph ''was the sweetest victory of them all''.
AC Milan legend Jose' Altafini, who profitably prolonged his playing career with a mid-'70s spell at Juve, recently said: ''Class increases with age. I joined Juve at 34 and scored a lot of goals''.
As well as the five scudetti, Del Piero has won one European Cup/Champions League trophy, one European Super Cup, a Club World Championship and an Italian Cup, all with Juve.
