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11/10/2007 00:45

Buffon Proud To Captain Italy

Gianluigi Buffon has revealed his delight at captaining Italy for the first time in his career, but admits that it is going to be tough for the Azzurri to qualify for Euro 2008.

The Juventus number one made his debut for Italy almost exactly ten years ago, during a World Cup play-off against Russia in October 1997.

A decade and 78 appearances later, Buffon will captain the Azzurri for the first time during Saturday's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia.

"It is an achievement after ten years with the Azzurri," said Buffon "I hope to carry on playing international football for a long time. I don't think I'll keep going until I'm 40, but when people talk about the need to bring through a new generation of players, I don't think they're talking about me.

"It's going to be tough to qualify, particularly because a few teams are making everything more difficult than we expected it to be.

"On paper, we have two easy games [against Georgia and the Faroe Islands] and one difficult one in Scotland. For now, though, we can only think about beating Georgia. We will have plenty of time to think about the trip to Glasgow."

Italy currently sit in second place in Group B, one point behind Scotland, and one above France.

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11/10/2007 00:21

Brescia To Make Sensational Del Piero Offer Smile

Brescia supremo Luigi Corioni is ready to take advantage of the fact that Alessandro Del Piero and Juventus are struggling to come to terms on a contract renewal by swooping in with a surprise bid for the veteran Italian striker.

“I am ready to deal with Del Piero, just as I did with Baggio,” boomed Corioni. “For players like them I can go over our salary cap because it is definitely worth it.”

Although it is hard to imagine that Del Piero would really consider joining one of Serie A’s minnows, the same could be said about the great Roberto Baggio, who spent the twilight of his career with Bologna and Brescia.

Del Piero, 32, has yet to find agreement with his club over a contract extension and with each week that passes without a deal talk of a sensational split only intensifies.

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