Del Piero is expected to captain Italy in Euro 2008
BADEN, Austria, June 5 - Alessandro Del Piero is expected to captain Italy in Euro 2008 because he holds the most caps, team-mate Gennaro Gattuso said Thursday.
Defender Fabio Cannavaro, who has 116 appearances Italy, was due to skipper the world champions but was excluded from the tournament after tearing ligaments of the ankle Monday.
Del Piero is in the following line in terms of ceilings with 86, but the attacker is not guaranteed to play had not started by Roberto Donadoni for later in September.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, with 82 appearances, is widely expected to be handed the armband for the Group C matches against the Netherlands, Romania and France.
"I think at this time Del Piero is on board because of appearances," said midfielder Gattuso a press conference.
"If he does not play, the captain is Buffon. We know that for us, Buffon is very important."
Gattuso was in his usual jovial mood, tripping and falling into a revolving advertising board before cracking jokes throughout the press conference.
The hard tackler is serious when it comes to Italy task ahead, however, say humility is the key.
"We must prepare well for games and when you go on the ground, we owe our grain teeth and do not think we are world champions," he said.
"We have a group of good teams and we must be careful."
Gattuso looks certain to start the first Monday match against the Netherlands and midfielder tipped colleagues Alberto Aquilani as a surprise package in Italy.
Aquilani, 23, set up the second goal last week the 3-1 friendly win in Belgium after playing regularly instead leaving Massimo Ambrosini.
"I love Aquilani. I like the way he behaves and how it is on the ground, "Gattuso said, adding that the attacker Luca Toni was among the most important players because of his selflessness when holding up the ball .
"It is really a man of the team," he said.
Gattuso, who has reaffirmed its belief that the Championship of Europe is more difficult than the World Cup, made to Italy's training 4-3-3 as evidence, they are more defensive.
"With three forward, it shows that we are an attacking team," he said.
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