New Delhi: On Tuesday night, two of Europe's football powerhouses will be involved in a do-or-die match in Group C, also known as Group of Death, in the peaceful city of Zurich.
The two teams had met on July 9, 2006 in the World Cup final in Berlin but one moment of madness by French midfielder Zinedine Zidane changed it all and Italy went on to win the cup.
Zidane's head-butt of Italian defender Marco Materazzi and the subsequent red card made more headlines than the Azzuri winning their fourth World Cup.
It will be a repeat of the same match when the two teams meet at Letzigrund in Zurich with the winner earning the right to play in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 and the loser taking the flight back home.
"Yes, this is another final for us. It is very difficult for us but is also very difficult for the French team," Roberto Donadoni, Italy coach, says.
Although the French lost the 2006 World Cup final to the Italians on penalties, Les Bleus are unbeaten against Italy in any competition, including friendlies for 30 years.
"It is true. Playing against Italy, there is always this rivalry that exists. I think when two big footballing nations meet up; it is also always exciting for you (the journalists present). Our rivalry (with Italy) is well-founded and, sometimes, it can overtake the reality of the situation," Patrick Vieira, France midfielder, says.
However, both Italy and France were beaten comprehensively by the Netherlands and drew against underdogs Romania.
While Italy lost 0-3 to the Netherlands, an ageing France could score just once as against four goals fired in by the Dutch.
Now Italy and France find themselves in a must-win situation if they don't want to be knocked out in the group stages of Euro 2008.
An ageing Italian team has found it hard to score goals without their captain Fabio Cannavaro.
But France doesn’t look like they are in any position to take advantage.
Raymond Domenech's top men have performed poorly on the big stage, their star striker Thierry Henry missed their last game against Netherlands.
In the other match of Group C, Romania have their chance to eliminate both France and Italy and sneak into the quarter-final when the take on the Netherlands at Stade de Suisse in Berne.
Coach Marco Van Basten is all set to rest his key players for Romania match as the Netherlands have already qualified for the quarter-finals after wins over France and Italy.
They would like to maintain their unbeaten record but the priority will be to protect the star players. So Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Edwin Van Der Sar are likely to be benched.
And Romania will be keen to grab the advantage and cause a major upset in the championship.
(With inputs from Mendra Dorjey and Neha Bedi)
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