Juventus and Italy striker Alessandro Del Piero literally had his back to the wall, surrounded by reporters. Come on, Alex, how will it go on Saturday night against Russia? Will Italy play to win or for a 0-0 draw? Del Piero paused and then broke into a broad grin: "We'll play so as to make sure we get to France next year."

Out at La Borghesiana country club near Rome, it is World Cup time again as Italy prepare for their second-leg, play-off decider against Russia in Naples.

Del Piero's little joke says much about the atmosphere. No one wants to spell it out too loudly, but that 1-1 draw in Russia two weeks ago has set up Italy for an historic, last gasp qualification. Team captain Paolo Maldini tends to agree, saying that, by comparison with one month ago on the eve of that epic 0-0 draw with England in Rome, the Italian team is in much better shape, "both physically and psychologically".

"We're definitely more sure of ourselves and of what we can do, just now. It's true that against England we were probably just too uptight . . . but it's also true that the Italian national team rarely plays especially well in September or October, that's a bit early for us. Now, we've played an extra month of soccer.

"I'm always optimistic before a game, and I'm certainly not going to start getting pessimistic on the eve of a World Cup decider."

So then, are we in for a mere, festive formality in front of a 73,000-strong capacity San Paolo tomorrow night? Not so fast, answers Paolo, as he expresses the family's traditional line of caution :

"You have to take every possibility into consideration, even the unthinkable . . . Remember we're playing a side of great tradition and they don't want to miss out on the World Cup anymore than we do."

Papa Cesare, the Italian team coach, could not have said it better. Indeed, when he met the press later in the day, Maldini senior was even more prudent than usual. Asked about his plans to replace his most prominent absentee, injured Atletico Madrid striker Christian Vieri, he offered no clues as to whether he will play the two Torri (literally, towers), Fabrizio Ravanelli and Pierluigi Casiraghi up front, or return to his seemingly preferred choice of "Little and Large", with little Gianfranco Zola, dropped for the Moscow blizzard, coming back alongside one of the big men :

"I don't want little men or big men. I want footballers, good footballers. The ones I have here with me are good footballers."

Always likely to be annoyed with anyone who suggests that his sides play "defensive" soccer, Maldini senior was quick to deny any suggestion that this time Italy would play for the 0-0 result which will be enough to send them to France '98 on the away goals rule.

"At the end of the day, the 11 result is not that ideal, because if you sit back and they get a corner 10 minutes from the end and score, then you're out of the World Cup . . . Anyway, we're not capable of playing that sort of game."

While others might beg to differ with that final opinion, there is no doubting that this time Italy will go looking for the goal that would remove a potentially nerve-wracking finale. For that reason, Zola's prospects of a recall seem good (all the better since Roberto Baggio has again not been summoned to arms), with Ravanelli likely to be his partner.

Given, too, that Maldini's betrayal of his own best footballing instincts cost him dear against England, where he played with a three-man attack and only two true midfielders, then it is likely that Demetrio Albertini, Dino Baggio and Roberto Di Matteo will again line out in a midfield trio.

Behind them will be the usual, five-man defence, with Alessandro Costacurta as libero, Maldini junior at left back and Gianluca Pessotto at right back called on to add attacking bite as overlapping defenders.

Maldini senior can console himself with the thought that at least all his players answered the national call. His opposite number, Russian coach Boris Ignatiev, has not been so fortunate: Oleg Veretennikov, Valeri Esipov (both Rotor Volgograd) and Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow) have failed to show in Italy this week. Officially, all three have "colds". Unofficially, rumours abound, with tensions between Moscow authorities and ambitious Volgograd offering a partial explanation. Despite those defections, though, Russia will still field a tough side containing several familiar and much-travelled figures, such as Viktor Onopko in defence.