Soccer: Eyes on the Cup, not on the courts

HAMBURG - Italy coach Marcello Lippi insisted the fallout from the Serie A soccer match-fixing scandal would not affect his team's chances at the World Cup.

Lippi made his bold claim after Italy reached the last 16 with a 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic and just minutes before Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina were charged by the Italian football federation [FIGC] for their part in allegedly fixing matches in the 2004-2005 season.

Thirteen of Lippi's 23-man squad play for the clubs involved who will go on trial in Rome next week on charges of sporting fraud.

The FIGC did not give the names of any of the individuals charged, but nobody in the Italian team or Lippi is under suspicion.

"We are concentrating on the World Cup," Lippi said after he was asked if the scandal was having an impact on the team.

"You foreign journalists seem to believe that all we are thinking about is the scandal.

"This hasn't been making us tense, the only thing we were concerned about was losing to the Czechs and going out of the tournament.

"This group of players has a great opportunity to have a great World Cup and we are not going to let anything distract us from our objective.

"Every one of us will deal with these issues when the World Cup is over."

Italy took care of their own business yesterday to bundle the Czechs out of the tournament.

Substitute Marco Materazzi headed in a corner kick in the 26th minute and substitute Filippo Inzaghi scored on a breakaway in the 87th minute to help Italy win Group E and set up a final 16 clash with minnows Australia in Kaiserslautern on Tuesday.

Materazzi had replaced injured Alessandro Nesta just nine minutes before he scored.

"It's everyone's dream to replace the greatest defender in the world and then score in the World Cup," Materazzi said.

Italy needed only a draw to advance and their task was made easier in first-half stoppage time when the Czech Republic's Jan Polak was sent off for receiving a second yellow card.

The Czechs enjoyed spells of pressure but when they did breach the Italian defence, they found keeper Gianluigi Buffon in imperious form.

- REUTERS