Saturday 14 June, 2008

Raymond Domenech faces Italy in another showdown and expects a heated atmosphere. “It’s a derby for me, now.”

The two sides have clashed repeatedly over the past two years in the World Cup Final and qualifying for Euro 2008.

“Italy-France is my derby nowadays, an extraordinary game everyone would like to play in. And I can’t wait for it to come,” said the controversial Coach.

“Now we are going to play this wonderful, exceptional game with emotions and sensations that are the only reason to do this job and work in the football world.”

Domenech was given a touchline ban in their last meeting at San Siro for unsubstantiated comments suggesting the Azzurri had bought the referee in an earlier Under-21 game.

For all the glamour of the occasion, both giants could crash out of Euro 2008 if Romania manage to defeat Holland.

“We are not in charge of our own destiny. We can only play and see what happened in the other game.”

There are fears the Dutch will field a second string side, not trying too hard to keep potential rivals France and Italy in the competition.

“I don’t want to say anything and won’t lecture anybody. If anything, I learned a lesson last night against Holland,” continued Domenech.

“We will fight Italy on an even playing field. My objective is to be able to say that we tried until the bitter end.”

It is also possible that the Azzurri could qualify just with a score draw if Romania lose to Holland due to the head-to-head record.

Domenech’s chances of going through are even slimmer and he seems to realise that ahead of Tuesday’s game.

“I have not yet decided which line-up to field, it depends on the strategy we want to adopt for the future. Should we give a chance to young players who haven’t stepped on to the field yet to gain some experience?

“Or should we risk leaving the competition without having seen certain players in a high profile match?”