Italy's ring of confidence

It is 20 years since Italy last won the World Cup and, on the evidence of the efficient way in which they overcame a nervous Ecuador in this extraordinary stadium yesterday, there is every reason to believe they can do so again, for a fourth time, in Yokohama on June 30th.

Not only are Giovanni Trapattoni's squad experienced, powerful and motivated, they have the added incentive of knowing they are in the comfortable half of the draw.

"We know we have the players and the path ahead, now it is up to us," is the way Christian Panucci, the former Chelsea defender who recently signed a long-term deal with Roma, put it last night. "It is a matter of confidence."

Two goals from the trusty left boot of Christian Vieri, taking his tally in six appearances at the World Cup finals to seven, settled this contest before half an hour was up.

Gianluigi Buffon had only one save to make and it came, in the 90th minute, from Agustin Delgado's well-struck drive, which was turned away.

"A good exercise for the players," said Trapattoni afterwards.

"A good contest to start with. Now I can take a good look at their condition in the next few days before I decide who will play against Croatia on Saturday.

"I should think there will be one or two changes. We need to keep them fresh for the whole tournament, if we can."

"We just want to build up our form, our confidence and condition for the challenge we know we face," said Vieri.

"This was a good performance and we were satisfied with it. I was happy with two goals and I have dedicated them to our physiotherapist Silvano Cotti for all the help he has given me with my ankle injury. I feel we are in good shape for this tournament. We can go a long way."

Given that the Italians drew all three of their opening group games in Spain in 1982, on their way to a thrilling 3-1 win over West Germany in the final, and that they have been notoriously slow starters in these tournaments, this was a sprightly first step.

Furthermore, the form of the Italian forwards was particularly impressive given the quality of the players in reserve, as Luigi di Biagio pointed out.

"Yes, both Vieri and Totti played very well for us and they are a dangerous attacking pairing," he said.

"But look at our bench. When you consider that Italy can call on Alessandro del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi and Marco Delvecchio, then you can say that we have the best group of attacking players in the world. That is what you need to win the World Cup."

And he forgot Roma's Vincenzo Montella. Del Piero made only a fleeting appearance as a substitute as he won his 50th cap here, but still brought squeals of delight from the teenage Japanese girls, many wearing Juventus shirts, who were in the crowd.

"He is a star of the Italy team and we all love him," said one teenager as she left the stadium. "Everyone believes Italy are very special. And they can win the World Cup."

"It was like playing in a theatre," said Paolo Maldini. "But it did not bother us. We just concentrated and did the job."

Italy have now lost only once in normal play, excluding penalties, in 20 World Cup finals matches dating back to their exit from the 1986 finals in Mexico, where they were beaten by France.

There they may have felt short of breath at altitude, just as most visitors to Quito have been.

This time, however, it was both teams who found it difficult to breathe in the Dome, as Trapattoni admitted.

"That was one reason for the changes I made," he said. "Some of the players were struggling for air."

Not Vieri, however.

Taking a square pass from Francesco Totti after seven minutes, he swept a 20-yard shot past Jose Cevallos to open the scoring and then muscled through for his second, thanks to a long forward pass from Di Biagio and a helpful bounce off the goalkeeper's legs.

The big striker, fit and strong, wants to run and run and has little intention of taking a rest. He knows, if he does, it may be difficult to regain his place in this team with glory on their mind.

Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez, now fully recovered from a gunshot wound last year, was not too disheartened despite Italy's comfortable win.

"It's tough to come to a World Cup and play Italy in the first game and we certainly paid the price in those first few minutes of the game," he admitted.

"We were a little nervous and weren't quite ready for that, but we played well in the second half and we are not discouraged.

"We have the strength and the preparation to go on for the next match."

Ecuador captain Alex Aguinaga was injured during the game.

Aguinaga, who plays as a playmaker behind frontman Agustin Delgado, sustained the injury to a muscle in his right leg in the first half and had to be replaced after the break by youngster Carlos Tenorio.

"Tomorrow I will see the doctors and the recovery period will begin," said Aguinaga yesterday.

Ecuador's next match is against Mexico in Miyagi on June 9th.

SUBSTITUTES

Italy: Gattuso for Di Biagio (69); Di Livio for Doni (64); Del Piero for Totti (74).

Substitutes

Ecuador: Ayovi for Tenorio (59 mins); Asencio for Chala (85); Tenorio for Aguinaga (46).

SUBSTITUTES

Italy: Di Livio for Doni (64mins); Gattuso for Di Biagio (69); Del Piero for Toti (74).

Ecuador:Tenorio for Aguinaga (46) Ayovi for Tenorio (59); Asensio for Chala (85).

YELLOW CARDS

Italy: Cannavaro (74).

Ecuador: Porozo (14); De la Cruz (49); Chala (54).