Italy’s preparation for their final Group C clash against Ireland today is at risk of being derailed by a biscuit.
The 2006 world champions sit third in their group after 1-1 draws against Spain and Croatia. They trail both of those teams by two points with pointless Ireland already eliminated.
Italy’s preparations should be firmly concentrated on getting the victory over Ireland that should prove sufficient to send them into the quarter-finals.
However talk of a “biscotto”, or biscuit in English, has got Italian nerves jangling and conspiracy theorists clamouring foul play before even a ball has been kicked.
Should Spain and Croatia draw 2-2 in Gdansk then they will both qualify for the quarter-finals at Italy’s expense, regardless of their result against Ireland.
It is because in the case of two or more teams finishing level on points, their head-to-head records come into play.
It was a similar scenario at Euro 2004 when Italy were ousted by a 2-2 draw in the final game between Nordic neighbours Sweden and Denmark.
Those two played a competitive match until the fourth goal went in and then seemed to both settle for the result that guaranteed their passage into the knock-out stages.
That has become known as a “biscotto” in Italian as it is the term used for an arrangement between two parties at the expense of a third.
Its origin comes either from horses being doped by biscuits or the principle of dividing up a cake equally, according to Italian sources.
But whichever is the truth, the fact is the Italians are rattled and rather than focusing purely on Ireland, they’re being eaten up by the possibility of being crunched by a “biscotto”.
Coach Cesare Prandelli said the first thing is to win their match against Ireland and only then will they need to cast an eye on events elsewhere.
“We need to win the game and deserve to progress to the next round,” he said.
“We must not think about what happened eight years ago, we must not look for excuses.
“Spain have always produced a spectacle and played well, everyone wants to emulate them, why would they think about a biscuit now?”
Prandelli has said he will make three or four changes to the team and one of those looks all the more likely to be striker Mario Balotelli, who limped out of training on Saturday with a knee problem.
He was due to undergo tests yesterday to see if he will be fit but was a candidate to be replaced by Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale in any case.
The bigger issue for Italy will be the potential banana skin that is former coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland, who certainly won’t roll over.
Trapattoni was the Italy coach in Portugal eight years ago and there would be a sort of poetic injustice perhaps were he to be the architect of Italy’s downfall this time around.