Iaquinta handed Italy goal mission in Montenegro

28 March 2009 01:55

Italy´s national football team players warmup during training session at the National Technical Center of Coverciano near Florence, on the eve of their WC2010 qualify match Montenegro vs Italy.

PODGORICA (AFP) - Italy coach Marcello Lippi will ask Juventus striker Vincenzo Iaquinta to feast on Group Eight minnows Montenegro on Saturday as the world champions look to take another step closer to the 2010 World Cup finals.

Iaquinta is likely to start up front with Udinese pair Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale flanking him in a 4-3-3 formation with Italy missing the injured Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino.

Lippi's selection has caused a stir as he continues to ignore the sensational form of 'enfant terrible' Antonio Cassano who has had an excellent season but has struggled to keep his temperament in check.

Iaquinta, in recent goal-scoring form at Juventus, is likely to lead the line and the 29-year-old insists he is not simply a replacement for the injured duo of Toni and Gilardino.

"If I'm in shape I don't feel inferior to anyone. I'm going through a purple patch at the moment," he said.

"I'm playing consistently, I've no physical problems. Now I want to do well for the national team."

Italy have three wins and a draw from their first four group games and top the pool narrowly on goal difference from the Republic of Ireland.

Those two meet in Bari on Wednesday in a match that could go some way to deciding who wins the group and takes the automatic qualifying spot for South Africa.

In the meantime, Lippi is understood to have made a couple of surprise choices, such as Sampdoria midfield Angelo Palombo alongside AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi of AS Roma in the middle of the park.

European football's newest members Montenegro know they face an uphill task against the world champions.

Monetengro will be without their star player as striker Mirko Vucinic, who plys his trade in Italy with AS Roma, is suspended.

The former Yugoslav republic, yet to win an official match, are under no illusions as to just how tough the challenge awaiting them is but they insist they won't be overawed by their illustrious opponents, particularly after only going down narrowly 2-1 in Lecce last year.

"Fear of Italy? No way, even if they are world champions, in Montenegro there's a lot of optimism," said team spokesman Ivan Radovic.

"After the performance in Lecce everyone is dreaming of a victory. It's a match in which we have nothing to lose. Of course the absence of Vucinic will hit us hard. Other than being our captain he's also our best forward."