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Donadoni to observe Italian players in Spain
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni traveled to Spain on Friday to check on the recent influx of national team players to the Spanish league.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:36 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Rome:
Italy coach Roberto Donadoni traveled to Spain on Friday to check on the recent influx of national team players to the Spanish league. His first scheduled stop was Real Madrid's preseason game against Real Betis on Wednesday. Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro left relegated Juventus for Madrid after leading the Azzurri to the World Cup title last month. Donadoni also wants to watch Antonio Cassano and speak with Madrid coach Fabio Capello about the temperamental striker. Cassano was Italy's top player at the 2004 European Championship but has not played much for the national team since. The next stop on Donadoni's itinerary is Barcelona, where he will attend Sunday's second leg of the Spanish Supercup between FC Barcelona and Espanyol. Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard - a former teammate of Donadoni's at AC Milan - can give the Azzurri boss an update on defender Gianluca Zambrotta, who joined Barcelona from Juventus last month. Other Italian players based in the Spanish league that Donadoni may be interested in are Sevilla midfielder Enzo Maresca and striker Francesco Tavano, who left Empoli for Valencia this week. Donadoni is then expected to return to Rome to talk with Francesco Totti about his future with the national team. Totti said after the World Cup final that he was considering retiring from international play. Donadoni called Totti on Thursday night to arrange a meeting, Corriere Della Sera reported on Friday. Italy hosts Lithuania on September 2 in Naples to open Euro 2008 qualifying, then travels to France four days later for a rematch of the World Cup final. A third-string Italy side lost a friendly 2-0 to Croatia on Wednesday. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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