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Italy striker Cassano signs for Real Madrid
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-04 09:15 The Azzurri boss called on Cassano only twice during the qualifying campaign
for the World Cup and the striker has not appeared for his country at all this
season.
But Lippi has a space in his World Cup squad left open for Cassano and should
he settle at Real, the Italy coach has no doubt he could make a major impact at
the finals in Germany.
"He can offer his inventiveness, his ability to make the unexpected happen,
his creative spark, his skills," Lippi said last year when asked about Cassano.
"You can't build a team that's based solely on being solid and compact. At
World Cup level you also need that stroke of genius, that creativity which some
players have -- and Cassano is one them."
While there has never been any doubt about his ability, the questions about
his character remain. How he copes with the pressure of playing for Real should
go a long way to answering them.
Cassano clashed with several coaches at Roma, has shown a serious lack of
discipline at times on the field and upset many with his refusal to play for the
Italian under-21 team when coached by Marco Tardelli.
There have only been two coaches that Cassano has really managed to construct
a solid relationship with -- current Juve boss Fabio Capello, who worked with
him at Roma, and Eugenio Fascetti, who launched his career with his hometown
club Bari.
FATHER FIGURES
Both coaches have been described as father figures by Cassano and both were
able to combine the discipline and attention that the temperamental forward
clearly requires.
Fascetti told the daily Gazzetta dello Sport that he believes the forward has
made a wise decision in moving abroad.
"He has done the right thing in going to Real. I've been saying for at least
year that it would be better for him to leave Italy. Here no-one could forgive
him anymore for the slightest error," said the coach who handed Cassano his
Serie A debut as a 17-year-old.
The former Bari coach said the key to handling Cassano is to give him a
little leeway.
"As a player I was at Juventus with Omar Sivori and Giampiero Boniperti --
they were given a greater freedom than others and at times they didn't really
push themselves in training.
"It really is down to the other players to realise that a talent needs to be
looked after because they are the ones who maybe can win a game by themselves,"
he said.
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