26/05/2002

INZAGHI DOUBTFUL AHEAD OF ECUADOR CLASH

Filippo Inzaghi could miss Italy's World Cup opener against Ecuador on June 3 after suffering a knee injury in Sunday's 2-1 win over J-League champions Kashima Antlers.

The striker was replaced by Vincenzo Montella, having headed the first of two goals on 13 minutes in the triumph in Tokyo. "He is feeling considerable pain and we will examine him properly on Monday," said doctor Anfres Ferretti.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes the blow may be serious. "I'm very worried about Pippo as he wouldn't have left the pitch if he wasn't feeling a lot of pain," he said.

Christian Vieri nonetheless looked on the bright side, adding: "It's always a worry when a forward leaves the pitch, but I would suggest that Pippo did so as a precaution."

Vieri doubled the lead from the edge of the box on 29 minutes after Inzaghi made his last contribution with a precise pass. Hirase reduced the deficit mid-way through the second half.

Roma star Francesco Totti impressed as playmaker in his first match for a month, before being substituted for Alessandro del Piero at half time.

Italy: Buffon (Toldo 46), Panucci, Cannavaro, Nesta (Materazzi 85), Maldini (Coco 62), Zambrotta (Zanetti 77), Di Biagio (Gattuso 62), Tommasi, Totti (Del Piero 46), Inzaghi (Montella 29), Vieri (Di Livio 77)

Kashima Antlers: Syuto, Narahashi, Ikeuchi, Fabiano, Augusto, Kumagai (Ishikawa 82), Honda (Uchida 56), Aohki, Nozawa (Nasegawa 49), Motoyama, Hirase
 

[Onefootball.com]