Boksic, licence to thrill crowds

"BOKSIC drove us mad. Frankly, he was unstoppable."

Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni was the man to pay that simple compliment to Croat and Lazio striker Alen Boksic and he was speaking just after his current club, Cagliari, had been humiliated 4-0 last Sunday by a Lazio side in which Boksic was quite simply stupendous.

Trapattoni is not just anybody rather he is the most successful post war coach in Italian soccer and a man who coached Juventus to six league titles between the mid 70s and mid 80s. As such, his opinion is perhaps worth consideration.

Indeed, those who ought to give it the most serious consideration are the Danes, Portuguese and Turks, scheduled to meet Boksic, Croatia et al in Group D of this summer's European Championships in England.

Croatia may not win the European Championship but they will certainly be the single biggest surprise element in the tournament.

The intriguing point about Boksic, however, is that, following a period of injury and a period when it seemed that Lazio's Bohemian coach, Zdenek Zeman, did not especially rate him, he has returned to his majestic best.

Boksic is a deceptive player. At first glance, he looks like the complete central striker. He has terrific pace, precise control, a powerful shot and is immensely strong in the air, while he stands six feet two inches tall and appears to have the physique to make himself respected in the penalty area.

In truth, Boksic is everything other than a central striker. He might look tall, but he is in fact more a winger than a goalscorer. He is the man who creates the chances, who gets to the byeline and sends in the cross for the centre forward. On Sunday against Cagliari, he did that with monotonous regularity, in the end sending in central striker Pierluigi Casiraghi for two spectacular goals.

Boksic is also a player who likes to take the ball deep and then run with it and keep on running with it. He has good initial pace but he seems to get faster the further he goes, making him an obvious crowd pleaser on his best days.

Boksic has shown himself able to ride the helter skelter of Italian soccer. His skill and self belief have survived intact through a difficult period this autumn.

The most regular criticism of Boksic this winter has been that he does not score often enough. Two league goals in 13 games would seem to prove that point. Yet the reality is that he is not a goalscorer. He serves other attacking purposes.

Boksic is one of a group of Croat players whose childhood was tough and whose footballing genesis has taken place against the backdrop of ethnic warfare. Like his Croatia team captain, Boban, he has regularly given of his time and his wallet to help fellow Croats, at home and abroad.

He himself had to leave his native town of Makarska on the Adriatic coast at the age of 12, while his life as footballing journeyman began at the age of 21 when he moved from Croatia's best known side, Hadjuk Split, to Olympic Marseilles. Three years ago, and for the modest sum of $10 million, he moved from Marseilles to Lazio.

Those who have played alongside Boksic have no doubts about his worth. Portuguese and AC Milan striker, Paolo Futre, currently injured, once said that Boksic will one day be rated the best in the world and on a par with Dutchman Marco Van Basten.

BBC television chiefs anticipate a massive 17 million viewers will tune in for England's European Championship match against Scotland at Wembley Stadium on June 15th.

The company have secured the glamour game of this summer's major international football tournament in an agreement drawn up with ITV to share coverage.

BBC chiefs are ecstatic. "The game has captured the imagination of football fans north and south of the border," says Brian Barwick, head of production for BBC TV sport.

"It is a massive match the focus of the opening round. I feel confident the game will attract a similar audience to the near 17 million who watched the 1990 World Cup semi final between England and West Germany on BBC."

ITV will have live coverage of both England's and Scotland's opening matches, plus the probable deciding games in the group - Scotland versus Switzerland and England against Holland.

But the good news for football fans is that they will be able to watch every Euro 96 match on terrestrial television.