Pony-tail snipped for trip to the east

The Brescia striker had recently recovered from a knee operation in rapid time in a last-ditch bid to appear in what would have been his fourth successive finals. Although Baggio has not played for Italy in three years and his 90 minute showing for Brescia on Sunday was his first full game since January, he remains by far the most popular footballer in Italy.

There has been a growing campaign for him to be taken to the finals and as the squad was being announced a group of Baggio supporters demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Italian Football Federation in Rome in a forlorn attempt to change Trapattoni’s mind.

Among the banners on display one declared: “For me, without Baggio there is no World Cup”.

Another read “Italy without Baggio is like France without Zidane, Japan without Nakata, Brazil without Ronaldo, England without Owen and Argentina without Veron”.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported that a pregnant protestor declared that she would be naming her daughter Roberta in honour of the player known as the ’Divine Ponytail’ due to his Buddhist faith and his hairstyle.

There were no surprises in Trapattoni’s selection with the Italy coach sticking with the players who assisted him through an unbeaten qualification campaign.

AC Milan midfielder Massimo Ambrosini, Lazio’s Stefano Fiore and Parma striker Marco di Vaio, who had all hoped to travel to South Korea and Japan, were left disappointed.

Roma’s versatile defender Christian Panucci, whose international career has been revived this season after unsuccessful spells in England with Chelsea and with French club Monaco, is rewarded for his excellent showings this season.

THE SQUAD

* Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Toldo and Christian Abbiati