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Italy, France Battle For Soccer Supremacy Anew In Euro 2008 Qualifying
Match
Christine Agus Gaylican - AHN News Writer
Lucerne, Switzerland (AHN) - The rivalry for soccer supremacy will again
rage on between Italy and France in next summer's Euro 2008 Championships.
The two teams, who clashed in 2006 will again meet in June 2008 in Zurich.
The teams respective managers have drawn each others names on Monday and
will join the Group C along with the Netherlands and Romania, CNN and
Fox News reports said.
Reports said France manager Raymond Domenech could not help but show his
disappointment in contrast to Italian manager Roberto Donadoni distinct
smile while the draw was unfolded.
Domenech said in a news conference: "I think there are coaches who
are happier today than the four here. I would have preferred to avoid
all of the other three teams in the group, but that's what we got and
we have to live with it."
"We didn't have an easy qualification and now we have a very difficult
group," Donadoni said in a CNN report. "We were unfortunate
in the draw, but I had a gut feeling this morning that it would turn out
like this."
Fans worldwide would remember the 2006 faceoff between the two teams and
the controversial incident that finished off France's Zinedine Zidane's
professional career. Zidane's final minutes in the field were marred by
his head butt on Italy's Marco Materazzi that sent him out of the game
before his retirement.
The Dutch team led by Marco van Basten was also dissatisfied with the
results of the draw on Sunday. Van Basten said this would be a very tough
tournament for his team to go against two World Cup finalists.
Allheadlinenews.com,
December 5, 2007
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