GROUP G / ITALY

*--* World Cup record: Played 66 (38-15-13); goals for: 105; goals against: 62 Best finish: Champion in 1934, 1938, 1982 1998 showing: Eliminated by France in quarterfinals Coach: Giovanni Trapattoni. The most successful coach in the history of Italy club soccer. Firm believer in the future-is-now philosophy, which explains why he left the sainted hero of World Cups past, 35-year-old Roberto Baggio, off the 2002 squad Players to watch: Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon In brief: Should win this group easily. After that, would probably face the U.S. or Poland in the second round, Cameroon in the quarterfinals and either Spain or Portugal in the semifinals. A path to the final is well-paved Quick quote: “Every player has some genius, but there’s only one Van Gogh, and there is nobody like Totti.”--Trapattoni Forecast: Has the talent and draw to win it all

*--*