Rome: Italy striker Francesco Totti has bemoaned the Azzurri's bad luck after they were hit by a series of late injuries ahead of their opening World Cup match against Ghana on Monday.
"What a great start we have made! We really have been unlucky," he was quoted as saying in La Repubblica on Thursday.
"I'm going to end up being the player in the best shape around here," said Totti who has himself only recently recoved from a serious ankle injury.
In the past 48 hours, fullback Gianluca Zambrotta and midfielder Gennaro Gattuso have been ruled out of Italy's opener with thigh injuries.
Alessandro Nesta also risks missing the match after aggravating an old adductor muscle injury.
The central defender will have tests on Saturday to decide if he is fit to play. Italy's lengthening casualty list unfolded in front of a bemused Totti, who had been the focus of the team's fitness concerns in the run-up to the World Cup.
The Roma captain, often described as the linchpin of Italy's World Cup bid, is struggling to regain form after spending three months on the sidelines.
The absence of Zambrotta and Gattuso, plus the possible loss of Nesta, have forced coach Marcello Lippi to reshape his team, with Fabio Grosso and Marco Materazzi coming into the back four and Simone Perrotta replacing Gattuso on the right of midfield.
"It's strange. On Tuesday, Gattuso was running about, tackling. It seems impossible," said Totti, who could start on the bench after poor performances in draws against Switzerland and Ukraine in warm-up matches last week.
"It will be a different Italy from the one that should have been there at the start of the tournament," he added.
Comments
0 comment