Injury to 'New Tardelli' Forces Lippi Rethink [Eire Region]
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Summary
ITALY'S preparations for Saturday's trip to Dublin have been further disrupted by an injury to midfielder Claudio Marchisio. The 23-year-old Juventus ace, regarded as the new Marco Tardelli of Italian football, is struggling with a knee problem and seems certain to miss Italy's final World Cup qualifiers against Ireland and Cyprus.
Marchisio has emerged from the shadows in the latter part of the campaign and was influential in the Azzurri's 2-0 win over Bulgaria in Turin last month. His likely absence will cause coach Marcello Lippi to reshuffle a deck already shorn of suspended defender Fabio Cannavaro. Nicola Legrottaglie is set to partner Juve colleague Giorgio Chellini in the heart of the Italian defence. And the 32- year-old centre half will relish crossing paths once again with Giovanni Trapattoni, who first capped him at senior level in 2002. 'It will be good to see Trapattoni again,' said Legrottaglie. 'He was the first coach to have faith in me and who called me up. 'If the match against Ireland is a crunch match it's because of the work Trap has done with Ireland. They have played an exceptional qualifying campaign.'See the full content of this document
Extract
Injury to 'New Tardelli' Forces Lippi Rethink [Eire Region]
Ahead of Italy's departure tomorrow, there is renewed speculation...
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