Azzurri's chances at Euro 2008

After a difficult campaign, which saw Italy recovering well from a stuttering start to qualify for Euro 2008, Roberto Donadoni's Azzurri were drawn in the same group with France, Holland and Romania.

Many considered this draw as the hardest of the lot.

Incidentally, Italy and France - the two World Cup finalists in 2006 - and Romania and Holland were also in the same qualifying groups on their way to the finals in Switzerland and Austria.

It is anyone's guess who will make it to the top two positions after the round robin phase. All four teams are up to it and highly rated on the continent. So tight is the race that the least of mistakes could prove to be fatal.

But, in my opinion, winning the European Championship could become a more complicated matter for Italy than it was for them to be crowned world champions on German soil two years ago. The reasons for this are varied.

For any team, both on a national and club level, repeating success is more arduous than triumphing the first time. Reaching the top is hard but staying there is even more difficult.

All opponents will be seeking a morale-boosting and a headline-grabbing victory against the Azzurri in the Euro 2008 finals.

Italian clubs are coming from a very poor campaign on the continent this season. Tonight, Roma are anything but favourites to book a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Tomorrow, Fiorentina have a mammoth task to reach the last four in the UEFA Cup after a 1-1 at home to Holland's PSV Eindhoven.

But even in 2006, none of the Italian teams had reached a final in UEFA competitions for clubs.

Despite this, the Azzurri, then coached by the shrewd Marcello Lippi, went on to lift their fourth World Cup - the first since 1982.

The build-up to that campaign was anything but ideal following the notorious match-fixing scandal that had rocked the Italian game to its seams.

This time around, Italy do not have any point to prove other than they are world champions and, as such, much is expected of them.

An early exit from the European Championship is simply not acceptable for the fans even if this implies having to oust two heavyweights in European football.

In this regard, Italy's first two matches - vs Holland (June 9 in Berne) and vs Romania (June 13 in Zurich) - are key to their qualification to the quarter-finals. Failing to win at least one of these two fixtures would put Italy's progression in serious jeopardy.

In the next two months, coach Donadoni should be left free from any pressure to choose the players he deems fit and most appropriate for his final selection.

One expects the squad to be very similar to the one Lippi had opted for in the 2006 World Cup. The positive thing about it is that the players know each other well... surely there's great understanding in the Azzurri dressing room these days.

Donadoni's biggest challenges are summed up in two aspects. First, the ex-Livorno coach has to motivate his players and convince them that, after Germany 2006, they can emulate France (in 2000) and become European champions after having won the World Cup.

Second, Donadoni must prepare his players adequately after a demanding Serie A season.

Without going into much detail about the names of those likely to be selected, one contends that the chosen players should have two major characteristics - experience at international level and physically in good shape at the time of selection.

The way to the Euro 2008 final, in Vienna on June 29, is still a long shot for Italy and any other team for that matter. But, Donadoni has all cards in place to achieve success.

Serie A statistics

0 home wins for Atalanta when hosting Inter in Serie A matches since May 1, 1994. On Sunday, league leaders Inter emerged 2-0 winners after scoring a goal in each half to stay four points clear of nearest pursuers Roma. On Saturday, Roma had to sweat for a hard-fought, though deserved, 3-2 victory at home over Genoa. Roma built a seemingly-assuring 2-0 lead in the opening 17 minutes. But Genoa hit back strongly and drew level early in the second half. Eventually, Roma won the contest thanks to a late Daniele De Rossi penalty. Genoa have last left the capital undefeated in January 1994 (1-1). Genoa's most recent of seven wins in 41 visits to the Olimpico dates back to January 1990 (1-0).

1 player - Cristiano Doni (Atalanta) - received his marching orders and Daniele De Rossi converted the only penalty of the weekend. Lazio have a staggering 21 points less with respect to 12 months ago and rivals Roma have exactly the same points as last season. Leaders Inter have the most prolific attack (59 goals in favour) and the best defensive record (21 goals against). However, it is worth mentioning that so far Inter collected nine points less than a year ago. Sampdoria, under new coach Walter Mazzarri, improved their tally by a remarkable 13 points when compared to last season's side, then coached by Walter Novellino. The latter is now at struggling Torino.

4th straight home win for Milan against Cagliari as the Rossoneri cruised to their first home success since beating Palermo 2-1 on the 24th day. The Sardinians have beaten Milan only three times - the most recent one coming on June 15, 1997 (1-0) - in 27 visits to the Giuseppe Meazza stadium. Ex-Inter and Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga could not have aspired for a better debut in Serie A as he led Catania to a resounding 3-0 home win over Napoli. All Napoli have to show from their seven visits to Catania are three draws, with the latest one coming on December 4, 1983 (0-0). The Sicilians currently lie three points clear of the drop zone.

6 wins from as many home Serie A meetings with Reggina for Fiorentina. On Sunday, Cesare Prandelli's side scored a goal in each half to add to the southerners' woes. This was Fiorentina's fifth straight home win. Reggina are winless in their last four outings (two draws and two defeats).

7 positive results in a row (five wins and two draws) have kept Sampdoria in the hunt for a Champions League berth. Sampdoria are currently joint-fifth in the standings, level on points with Milan. They are four points behind Fiorentina and one ahead of Udinese. On Sunday, Samp left it to the last part of the game to beat relegation-threatened Livorno 2-0 at home. The Tuscany side have a truly dire record in Genova, where they managed to stay unbeaten only twice (2-0 on January 8, 2006 and 1-1 on January 18, 1948) in seven top-flight visits.

21 years had to pass for Empoli to conquer Turin again as the Tuscany side scored a last-gasp winner to record a vital victory in a tense basement clash. The only drawn result between these two sides in Turin dates back to May 17, 2003 (1-1). Palermo returned to winning ways after a poor run, consisting of four straight defeats, following a hard-fought 3-2 win at home over Juventus. This was Palermo's first victory in seven games. These two sides recorded their most recent of eight draws in 20 meetings in Sicily in February 1969.

30 goals were scored on the 32nd day: 19 coming from the hosts and the remaining 11 from the visitors. Foreigners contributed with 10 goals while there were 14 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far is 803. Neither hat-tricks nor own goals were recorded. Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Carvalho Amauri (Palermo) and Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) grabbed a brace each. Four players - Leon (Genoa), Floro Flores (Udinese), Kharja (Siena) and Bonazzoli (Sampdoria) - came on as substitutes and scored. Genoa's Marco Borriello still leads the scorers' list with 18 goals (five from penalties).