Vieri, the Spanish league leading scorer with Atletico Madrid, tallied
four goals in three games to share the individual scoring lead with Gabriel
Batistuta of Argentina.
Veteran star forward Roberto Baggio added two goals and midfielder
Luigi Di Biagio one for a total of seven scored and two allowed in the
initial four-team round.
In the World Cup in Argentina, the team including such strikers as
Paolo Rossi and Roberto Bettega had tallied six goals in three first-round
matches.
Del Piero, just recovered from a thigh strain that hampered his
preparation, hasn't scored yet but made decisive moves against Cameroon and
Austria
after missing the opening match against Chile.
Targeted by rival defenders aware that he's the player masterminding
Italy's offense, Del Piero is often fouled and sent sprawling into the
field. But he still fed Vieri for Italy's opening goal in Tuesday's
decisive 2-1 victory against Austria at St. Denis and was a steady threat
for the rival defense.
"I helped to keep Austrian defenders under pressure and make them
weary. Then Roberto [Baggio] entered the field and knocked them out," Del
Piero said.
"I was lucky to leave the field on my feet. Austrian defenders treated
me like a ball. They kicked me throughout," said Del Piero, the Champions
Cup all-time leading scorer with 10 goals this year.
Baggio scored a late goal at St. Denis to give Italy a 2-0 lead and
survive the usual Austrian goal in injury time. He had also tallied the
late equalizer against Chile, on a penalty.
The questionable form of Del Piero somehow forced Maldini to rotate
him with Baggio, who had been taken to France as the substitute of the
younger star. The coach suggested the rotation, which has been a key to
Italy's success in the initial round, was likely to continue.
"Don't call it a perfect formula. In soccer that doesn't exist. But
tactical changes during the match are an added weapon for a coach and it's
useful to take advantage of them," Maldini said after Italy's
qualification.
On Saturday the "Azzurri" will play Norway, which
earned a second-round berth by stunning defending champion Brazil in a
Group A match.
Inzaghi, Del Piero's teammate with league champion Juventus, replaced
Vieri in the second half both against Chile and Austria.
An agile forward -- the opposite of the strongly-built powerful Vieri
-- Inzaghi fed Baggio for Italy's second goal against Austria and went
close to scoring himself twice.
At midfield Di Biagio has taken over the place of Chelsea's Roberto Di
Matteo while Juventus defender Gianluca Pessotto unexpectedly replaced
Demetrio Albertini in Tuesday's match.
Quite surprisingly, those substituted have never complained about
Maldini's decisions.
"I was really tired in the second half and the coach did the right
thing by sending Pippo [Inzaghi] in," Vieri said.
"The starting 11 must be decided on the basis of tactical needs of the
team, against different opponents. You can't use the same 11 for the entire
competition. When a player looks tired, or is in trouble, better to
substitute him," Maldini explained.
A forced substitution was that of defender Alessandro Nesta with
veteran Giuseppe Bergomi, when the young player of Lazio of Rome tore his
right knee ligaments in a collision with an Austrian defender after only
four minutes of play.
Nesta is out for the rest of the competition and was returning home
Wednesday.
Bergomi, the Inter Milan sweeper who debuted with the Italian World
Cup team in Spain in 1982, is
the oldest player on the roster, at 34.
HREF="/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/teams/argentina">Argentina.
