Dino Zoff will find himself in the comforting position of being able to placate some of his more disappointed squad members when Italy complete their Group B programme against Sweden at Eindhoven this evening.
With their place in the quarter-finals already assured, the Italians are expected to rest several of the team which coped adequately, if at times uneasily, in dismissing Turkey and Belgium.
Among those with reason to believe that Zoff chose the wrong team in each instance, is Alessandro Del Piero their inspirational if brittle striker who so far has struggled to impose himself on the master plan.
Del Piero seized the opportunity to remind the manager yet again of his front-line options by scoring twice when the reserve team upstaged the bulk of the side which had beaten Belgium three days earlier, in a practice game on Saturday.
Now the reward may be a place in the starting line-up for the first time as the Italians prepare to indulge the flair which has so far been marked absent from their performances.
Others who fit the same category include Marco Delvecchio, Massimo Ambrosini and, possibly, Angelo Di Livio in an exercise designed to allow Zoff to experiment before the cut-throat business of the quarter-finals demands a different set of priorities.
Sweden, who have doubts about Teddy Lucic and Roland Nilsson, must win this evening and then depend on Turkey beating Belgium to have any chance of qualifying. At best, its an unlikely permutation.
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