Italy needs WCup win at Montenegro to lift spirits

Italy will be seeking a morale-boosting victory at lowly Montenegro on Saturday to help show that the apparent decline of its clubs in European competition doesn't mean a successful World Cup defense is impossible.

Italy is tied at the top of its qualifying group and would like a comfortable game against Montenegro as its laboring players try to find some form ahead of next week's matchup with co-leader Ireland.

Italy's match is one of 20 on Saturday in European qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, with teams including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain also aiming for another crucial three points as they try to reach the tournament in South Africa.

Montenegro is just a point above last place in Group 8 but has won five of 14 matches in its two-year international history and could be a dangerous opponent at home, especially with Italy coach Marcello Lippi having to shuffle his attack because of injuries.

The 2006 World Cup winners will be without the injured Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino, suggesting that Giuseppe Rossi and Antonio Di Natale are likely to line up on the wings either side of central striker Vincenzo Iaquinta.

The danger for Italy is that it spends too much time thinking about Wednesday's game against Ireland, which is hosting Bulgaria on Saturday, and not enough on Montenegro.

"Up until now we've done well, with 10 points in four games, but there is another team _ Ireland _ that has done just as well," Lippi said. "(Ireland) is going to be our top opponent in the race for first place in the group."

Italian football needs a boost after all four of its representatives were eliminated from the Champions League this month and AC Milan was ousted from the UEFA Cup. Only Udinese is still in continental competition.

"I've reminded the guys that the real representation of a country's football is the national team," Lippi said. "And we're still the world champions for a year and a half."

With World Cup winners Gennaro Gattuso, Mauro Camoranesi and Simone Perrotta also unavailable, Italy got some good news with the absence of Montenegro captain Mirko Vucinic because of suspension.

Led by Giovanni Trapattoni, the most successful coach in the history of Italian football, Ireland is tied with Italy on 10 points. It hosts Bulgaria, which is seven points back in third, with goalkeeper Shay Given and midfielder Aidan McGeady recovered from injury and ready to play.

Bulgaria, meanwhile, will be without key striker Dimitar Berbatov because of an ankle injury.

Germany needs to get back to form at the top of Group 4 after losing its last two friendly games at home, 2-1 to England and 1-0 to Norway.

Germany should get back on the winning track when it hosts Liechtenstein in Leipzig, a team that it has already beaten 6-0 on the road.

"We can play well but we need order and discipline," captain Michael Ballack said. "That's our mentality and when we don't have that then we can have problems even against teams such as Norway."

The three-time World Cup champion has outscored its opponent 23-3 in three matches.

France is at Lithuania seeking victory to get closer to the surprise Group 7 co-leader. But striker Nicolas Anelka is out with a toe problem and was replaced in the squad by the inexperienced Guillaume Hoarau.

France lost its last two qualifying matches without scoring a goal.

"It's going to be a real battle, a real combat," said France coach Raymond Domenech, who also called up Andre-Pierre Gignac, the French league's leading scorer. "We're going to have to be mentally and physically very solid."

The Netherlands is coasting with maximum points at the top of Group 9. It can go even further clear if it beats second-place Scotland, which could then lose even more ground if it fails to beat Iceland in Glasgow on Wednesday _ when the Dutch play Macedonia.

European champion Spain is also cruising in Group 5 ahead of its game against visiting Turkey.

Czech Republic could surge to the top of Group 3 with victories over Slovenia and Slovakia and got a boost when defender and captain Tomas Ujfalusi declared himself fit despite a calf muscle problem.

"If we win twice, we'll lead the group. And that's our goal," Ujfalusi said.

Sweden is at Portugal, which has endured a similarly mediocre start to Group 1 qualifying, without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Inter Milan forward is suspended after getting another yellow card when the teams drew 0-0 in Stockholm last year.

Daniel Nannskog and Oscar Wendt are in the squad after Markus Rosenberg and Behrang Safari withdrew on Sunday because of injury.

"Obviously, it is sad to receive late cancellations from two players in good shape, but that is the case," coach Lars Lagerback said.

Lagerback is hoping the quick attacks from Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo leave space for his side to attack.

"If we can capture the ball from them when they are attacking and change direction quickly they can be vulnerable," he said.

Group 1 co-leaders Denmark and Hungary are at Malta and Albania respectively, while Group 2 leader and favorite Greece is at second-place Israel.

With no matches scheduled for Group 6 until Wednesday, leader England has a home friendly against Slovakia to prepare for its match against Ukraine.