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Italian striker Filippo Inzaghi is the prince of garbage
goals.
Not to say the 28-year-old AC Milan star isn't a skilled
player, but "Pippo" has a knack for being
in the right place at the right time.
Inzaghi starred for Italy in World Cup qualifying,
scoring seven goals in six appearances to put himself
in a good position for a starting berth. Unfortunately,
he suffered a knee injury in an exhibition game against
a Japanese professional side on May 26 and made him
questionable for Italy's opener against Ecuador on June
3.
"It's normal that after an injury you think troubling
things," Inzaghi said after working out in late
May. "I didn't want to miss this great chance at
the World Cup. But today I worked out and didn't feel
a thing."
Although it's the same knee he had an operation on
in December, which caused him to miss three months of
competition, tests showed no re-aggravation of the injury.
Inzaghi brushed off suggestions that he might have trouble
reclaiming a starting spot on an Italian side that's
awfully stacked with scoring threats for such a notoriously
defensive-minded team.
"I don't thing there'll be a problem," he
said. "I think the team will do well, and I'll
support the team if I can't play."
Inzaghi wasn't always a star. His professional career
began in the lower divisions of Italian soccer with
Piacenza, Leffe, and Verona before Parma picked him
up in 1995.
The following season Pippo moved to Atalanta, where
he was suddenly Serie A's top scorer with 24 goals,
and he caught the attention of the most celebrated team
in the Italian league, Juventus. With Juventus, Inzaghi
established himself as one of the great goal poachers
in the game, pocketing 57 goals in 120 games, along
with collecting a Serie A title with the club in 1997-98.
He joined AC Milan in 2001.
Internationally, Inzaghi has always lived up to his
country's expectations. He was a member of Italy's 1998
World Cup team, appearing in three games. At Euro 2000,
he started four games and scored against Sweden and
Romania, but did not start for the final against France.
In 37 caps, he's netted 15 goals.
Opposing defenders will be careful not to leave any
loose balls in the 18-yard box, as the wily and opportunistic
Inzaghi will bury all chances given to him.
With files from Associated Press
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