French jibes have boosted Italy's will to win Saturday's crunch Euro 2008 qualifier against France in Milan, says goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
"Certain puffed-up statements were aimed at niggling us, and they have," the Juventus goalie said, referring to accusations of cheating made by France coach Raymond Domenech and midfielder Lassana Diarra.
"But when things are like this Italy produces its best. We'll see who's laughing at the end of the match".
Veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi of European champions AC Milan hit the same note.
"They've been doing a lot of talking. We'll answer on the field," said Inzaghi, 34, whose two goals sank Liverpool in the Champions League Final.
Buffon acknowledged that France were probably the stronger team at the moment, saying he would settle for three points from the Azzurris' next three matches including next Wednesday's clash with Ukraine in Kiev and a November 17 showdown against Scotland in Edinburgh.
"And if you had to ask me which of the two upcoming games I'd prefer to win, I'd have to say the one in Kiev. It would mean qualification".
The absence of injured Inter stopper Marco Materazzi would probably make for a "calmer" match, Buffon said.
"There won't be any chance of vendetta," he said, after Materazzi's recent admission of the full phrase that led to Zinedine Zidane's infamous World Cup Final headbutt.
(Rather than accepting Zidane's repeated offer of the jersey he had been pulling, Materazzi said he told the French legend: "I'd prefer that whore sister of yours".)
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is set to move AS Roma full-back Christian Panucci into the middle in Materazzi's place, pundits think.
Panucci, recalled to the squad after years in the cold, and Palermo's Andrea Barzagli will have their hands full against a France attack formed by Barcelona's Thierry Henry, Chelsea's Laurent Malouda and Toni's Bayern clubmate Franck Ribery.
Because of an injury to Bayern Munich's Luca Toni, Inzaghi will start the match alongside Udinese winger Antonio Di Natale, with Juve captain Alessandro Del Piero in reserve.
Juve's Mauro Camoranesi has hit his best form and is likely to be a threat for the French on the other wing.
Domenech will have to watch the match from the San Siro stands after UEFA on Tuesday upheld his touchline ban for match-rigging allegations.
The coach accused Italy of bribing the referee of a 1999 Under-21 Olympic qualifying match between the two countries.
Just as the Domenech row appeared to be dying down, Lassana slammed Italian players as "cheats and provokers".
Asked to comment on Lassana's claims, Toni said "we'll answer these slurs on the field".
Del Piero, who scored the fourth penalty in Italy's World Cup Final shoot-out win in Berlin, said: "The World Cup showed Italian soccer doesn't trick or cheat".
"It was a victory for clean football," he said.
Italy are two points behind France, which beat them 3-1 a year ago to make the Azzurri campaign an uphill climb.
The France and Ukraine games are seen as crucial to Italy's qualifying hopes.
Italy are a point ahead of Scotland and five points ahead of Ukraine.
France plays Scotland in Paris on Wednesday.
