(ANSA) - Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero will have to fight for a place in Italy's World Cup squad, coach Marcello Lippi said on Tuesday.
Lippi said that barring injuries or an unexpected drop in form, "certain players" have already clinched a place in the 23-strong squad - but Del Piero was not among them. Lippi, Del Piero's former manager at Juventus, was responding to the player's claim that he has "nothing to prove" in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Moldova in this southern Italian city.
Del Piero was stung into this umpteenth assertion of his proven ability by 1982 World Cup hero Paolo Rossi saying he would prefer to see Roma striker Antonio Cassano in the squad in place of the Juve captain.
Cassano has not been getting first-team soccer recently because of a contract wrangle with Roma but many pundits think he could prove a greater asset to Italy than Del Piero.
While implying that certain players were untouchables for Germany next year, Lippi stressed that there was a long way to go to next summer and he would be constantly assessing league form in the meantime.
"I don't think it's right to tell people the players that are definitely in," he added.
Del Piero has suffered media criticism in all of Italy's campaigns since 1998, being accused of not rising to the occasion and squandering key chances. His hopes of making his third straight World Cup have been dented by Juve coach Marcello Lippi's policy of playing him off the bench as a second-string choice.
Cassano, for his part, has question marks about his temperament but was universally judged the one bright spot in Italy's disappointing Euro 2004 campaign. Many think the mercurial Roma man - once described by Lippi as a "genius" - could displace Del Piero if he gets enough time on the pitch in the run-up to Germany 2006. Del Piero's record for Italy compares favourably to Cassano's - 25 goals in 68 apperances compared to 3 strikes from 8 starts - but most experts think Lippi cannot afford to ignore the Roma star, who still has huge potential. For one thing, Cassano is seen as a perfect foil to his club captain, Francesco Totti, who is determined to stamp his mark on world soccer at next year's tournament.
