New Delhi: Italy against France. A match the world is waiting to see, again.
Italy won the World Cup beating France the last time they played. Euro 2008 qualifiers will see the two teams resume their rivalry and a chance for the French to avenge that defeat.
But before the two teams lock horns once again, they have two separate teams to contend with to kick-off their European campaign.
New Italian coach Roberto Donadoni has experimented quite a bit with the squad, dropping nine of the World Cup team members including Francesco Totti, Luca Toni and Alessandro Del Piero.
Skipper Fabio Cannvaro will be looking to pull this new bunch together for the first qualifying game against Lithuania.
Roberto Donadoni, who took over the reigns as coach from Marcello Lippi after the World Cup, says: "I know how valuable the players are that took part in the World Cup and this cannot be doubted. But I told this to my players, that now everyone has to demonstrate that we are World Champions. Those who were in Germany have this responsibility, and the others have the responsibility of proving they are at the same level."
Les Bleus are gearing up for the first Group B qualifier against Georgia, a team that opened its qualifying campaign with a 6-0 win over Faroe Islands.
Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele, who were expected to follow Zidane out of the team, are back in the squad.
The French will be missing David Trezeguet though, due to a muscle injury.
France coach Raymond Domenech, says: "Now we are only focused on tomorrow's game, as this (Georgian) team should not be dismissed. They won 6-0 against the Faroe Islands, and so we are only focusing about tomorrow's match."
The Czechs disappointed at the World Cup with a first round exit. As they take on Wales, they will be without Pavel Nedved and Karel Poborsky who have retired since.
The pressure will now be on Tomas Rosicky and the imposing Jan Koller, who has recovered from an injury that he incurred during the World Cup.
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