'It's a dream final'

ByEurosport

Published 06/07/2006 at 20:19 GMT

Italy's Alessandro del Piero has declared Sunday's encounter with France as the dream finale to the tournament. The Juventus striker sealed his nation's 2-0 semi-final triumph over Germany to send the Azzurri on the road to Berlin and a showdown with form

"It's a massive game, which couldn't be any better," said Del Piero, part of the Italy side that lost to France in a dramatic Euro 2000 final.

"There are great champions playing in it and above all Zidane. At the moment, as far as I see it, there are no teams better for this final than these two."

Del Piero shared the Delle Alpi dressing-room with Zidane for five trophy-filled seasons before the France playmaker joined the Real Madrid galactico bandwagon, and said he retained a lot of affection for his former team-mate.

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FOOTBALL 2006 World Cup Italy Del Piero

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"With Zidane, there was an intense friendship, which comes before anything else," said Del Piero, who will also have current Juve team-mates Patrick Vieira, Lilian Thuram and David Trezeguet on the opposing side in the Olympic Stadium.

'NO ANTI-ZIDANE PLAN'

"He's been in magnificent form, but I hope it was only up to yesterday. From the point of view of a player, I don't know what else can be said about Zizou. He's the absolute number one."

Zidane is set to bring down the curtain on his glittering career after the final and will be keen to finish on the very highest of highs by adding a second World Cup to the one his brace helped claim against Brazil in 1998.

FOOTBALL Zinedine Zidane Mundial Alemania 2006

Image credit: Imago

But for all the danger the ex-Real Madrid midfielder poses, Del Piero believes Azzurri boss Marcello Lippi - the pair's coach during their mutual spell in Turin - will not go into the final with an anti-Zidane plan.

"The spirit in which Italy has approached the World Cup means we are not likely to man-to-man mark Zidane," insisted Del Piero. "There are other players who can be a threat at any moment. We will have to be aware of all of them."

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