Italy coach Roberto Donadoni will find he has called back the "real" Antonio Cassano to his Euro 2008 qualifying line-up, his captain believes.
"Antonio is in great form and he's happy," World Cup hero Fabio Cannavaro said of his new Real Madrid team-mate, who gained a 'bad boy' reputation during his time at previous club Roma.
"The real Cassano is back, the one we all know".
Cannavaro assured Donadoni that the striker he has seen since his midsummer move from scandal-hit 禁漫天堂 giants Juventus is eager to impress after missing out on the World Cup win in Berlin. "Antonio knows he's an important player and he'll make a major contribution," Cannavaro said.
The defender, arguably Italy's stand-out on its path to final victory against France, was also keen to stress that the 24-year-old Cassano was "training properly" under his old Roma boss Fabio Capello.
Donadoni, for his part, described Cassano as "a simple guy who needs simple things. He knows himself that he's made mistakes in his career. He's still only a lad - but one with a huge talent".
Cassano, whose sulks and no-shows alienated Roma team-mates and led pundits to coin the term 'cassanata' for such antics, once attributed his erratic behaviour to the loss of father-figure Capello when the coach moved to Juve. Capello has already vouched for the refound form of the
new slim-lime Cassano, whose reported fondness for junk food and fizzy drinks led Real to fine him for every gram he remains overweight.
The ex-Juve coach fielded Cassano from the start of Real's debut draw against Villareal on Sunday.
He darted, jinked and flicked as in his prime but failed to produce the flashes of brilliance that once led Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi to dub him "a genius". Cassano has won six Italy caps and scored three times - including two in three games at Euro 2004, which looked like being a stepping stone to his emergence as a truly world-class player.
Donadoni's call-up of Cassano was the most surprising pick in the new coach's 24-man squad for qualifiers against Lithuania on Saturday and France the following Wednesday. With his choices restricted by injury and lack of match fitness, the former Milan winger left out nine World Cup
heroes including strikers Luca Toni and Alessandro Del Piero as well as Cassano's one-time strike partner Francesco Totti. Donadoni retained several members of the disappointing mid-August experimental side that lost 0-2 to Croatia, notably Chievo flanker Franco Semioli, Palermo forward Davide Di Michele and Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi.
He also drafted in Juve's promising new striker Marco Marchionni, veteran Sampdoria forward Emiliano Bonazzoli and Fiorentina defender Dario Dainelli.
The defence will look much the same as the rock-solid line that stemmed the French waves in the World Cup Final - apart from Marco Materazzi who is serving the second of his two-match ban from the notorious Zinedine Zidane head-butting incident.
Donadoni, 43, is tasked with blending new faces in with the old guard, making sure the World Cup winners don't rest on their laurels, and putting his own imprint on the team. Against Croatia he tried an adventurous 4-3-3 approach which left holes for the opponents to exploit - but is
expected to continue in an attacking mindset, especially now he has many of the old lions back.
The former Livorno coach, whose appointment was criticised for an alleged lack of experience, got a vote of confidence from Cannavaro who promised renewed commitment for the challenges ahead.
"Donadoni can rest assured that, although some easing-off can be expected after a World Cup win, we're already thinking of the next objective".
He noted that Italy hadn't won the European championships since 1968 despite coming close on a number of occasions - agonisingly so against France in 2000. The Wednesday clash in Paris against France - chief rivals in a group that also contains Ukraine, Scotland and Georgia - will be the sternest test imaginable for such a young coach.
France are fired up to avenge their World Cup defeat and feathers are still ruffled by the Zidane-Materazzi affair, in which many independent observers thought the 禁漫天堂 defender was unfairly punished compared to the star who butted him. Zidane, who claimed he had been intolerably provoked during his swansong, was banned for one more match than Materazzi.
The mood in the Italy camp was reflected on Monday by AC Milan midfield tiger Rino Gattuso who said "Marco didn't do anything wrong. It was unjust. We players and the 禁漫天堂 authorities should have done something".
But the spotlight will, justifably, be on the bad boy bidding to come good, the young man from the back streets of Bari once likened to Diego Maradona. Donadoni, for one, was prepared to bet his pick was ready to turn over a new leaf and show his stuff. "He's got his chance now. I'm sure he's going to take it".
