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Scots bid to slow Italian stroll to World Cup finals [Fri Sep 2nd, 2005]
Glasgow (Reuters) - Italy face back to back away games in Scotland and Belarus over the next five days, when two wins still enable them to confidently book their flights to Germany next June.
Italy are four points clear of both Norway and Slovenia - who meet on Saturday - and with home games against Slovenia and Moldova to come, qualification looks assured, even if it might take a few more weeks to become guaranteed.
Scotland, fifth in the group on six points, still have hopes of snatching second place but it looks highly unlikely, especially as they must beat Italy to have any realistic chance.
The Italians won the reverse fixture 2-0 in Milan in March, but Scotland midfielder Christian Dailly said it was not all doom and gloom.
"There are a lot of positives you can take from that last game with Italy and I think Italy themselves will know they are in for a tough 90 minutes," he told a news conference.
"When you are at home you want to try to take the game to them. There is no doubt about it, we are going to go into the game being positive."
After facing Italy the Scots face another tough task when they play Norway in Oslo on Wednesday.
"I think we have got to take something from this game and if we want to get to the World Cup then the two games coming up then people have said we have to get at least four points, and we are probably looking at it that way," said Dailly.
"The best way is to start off with a win tomorrow but it is going to be tough but we are certainly not scared of it, we're looking forward to it.
"We have had good results at Hampden in the past and let's hope we can do it again."
Referee: Lubos Michel (Slovakia).
Scotland (probable): Craig Gordon (Hearts), Graham Alexander (Preston), Jackie McNamara (Wolves), Christian Dailly (West Ham), Andy Webster (Hearts), Davie Weir (Everton), Barry Ferguson (Rangers), Darren Fletcher (Manchester United), Nigel Quashie (Southampton), Kenny Miller (Wolves) and James McFadden (Everton).
Italy: (probable) Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Marco Materazzi (AC Milan), Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan) Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus), Mario Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Francesco Totti (AS Roma), Alberto Gilardino (AC Milan) and Christian Vieri (AC Milan).
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