Each Wednesday from now until the tournament kicks-off, TheFA.com will be profiling all the countries partipating at Euro 2004.

Italy are in Euro 2004 Group C with Bulgaria, Sweden and Denmark. Their manager is Giovanni Trapattoni and two of his likely squad for Portugal have played in Britain.

AC Milan’s Christian Panucci had an unhappy spell at Chelsea in 1999 while midfielder Gennaro Gattuso played alongside Paul Gascoigne at Glasgow Rangers between 1997 and 1999.

The Facts

Italy were seconds away from winning Euro 2000. In the Final, Sylvain Wiltord scored a French equaliser (left) in injury-time and David Trezeguet won the match with a Golden Goal.

England’s last competitive match against Italy was a famous 0-0 draw in Rome in 1997, when David Beckham played as a right-wing back. England qualified for the World Cup as a result.

This will be Alessandro Del Piero’s third European Championship, having played at Euro 96 and in Belgium and Holland four years ago.

Roberto Di Baggio made his international farewell last month. The 37-year-old scored 27 goals in 56 games for Italy.

Italy’s last competitive defeat came in 2002 against Wales. Goals from John Hartson and Simon Davies gave the Welsh a famous 2-1 victory in Cardiff but Italy gained revenge with a 4-0 win later in the qualification campaign.

Only Brazil have won the World Cup more times than Italy. The Italians were champions in 1934, 1938 and 1982.

The Opinion

These are unusual times in Italian football, according to James Richardson who presents live Serie A football every Sunday on Eurosport.

For once, it’s the renowned Italian defence that is giving cause for concern while the attack looks one of the best in Europe.

"Francesco Totti of Roma has been outstanding this season, probably his best ever in terms of consistency," says Richardson.

"The Italians regard him as their biggest star and they are perplexed that he didn’t get a single vote in the European Player of the Year awards.

With him and Del Piero, Vieri and Inzaghi, there are a lot of eye-catching forwards for Italy to call on. Although the Italians are superstitious and won’t want to blow their own trumpet too loudly, I sense optimism among the wider public.

"Beyond France, they don’t see any of the opposition as particularly strong. Portugal have major weaknesses in their side, Spain don’t look great etc.

"Italy always expect to reach the semi-finals. Anything less would be regarded as a poor outcome."

Surprisingly, it is the defence which is the major concern. There is a great outcry for the legendary veteran Paolo Maldini of AC Milan to come out of international retirement.

"He has had an amazing season but so far is sticking to his decision to stop playing for Italy after the last World Cup," says Richardson.

"There is a lot of pressure on him to reconsider, because people who have expected to be his heirs haven’t come through as expected. People like Cannavaro and Ferrari.

"Alessandro Nesta is good but doesn’t have the same leadership qualities as Maldini. Trapattoni though is convinced Maldini won’t be available."

Italy will also be fired up by their exit at the 2002 World Cup when South Korea beat them with a Golden Goal. "They still don’t think they were treated fairly," says Richardson. "But there is an acceptance now that they didn’t help themselves either."

Prepare for Italians seeking to take revenge – this time with the emphasis on attack.

The Colour

Opera singing legend Luciano Pavarotti is a big, and we mean big, Juventus fan.

Italian football was so popular in England in the 1990s that an audience of 5.5million watched their World Cup play-off match against Russia in 1997, just a few weeks after England had beaten the Italians as group winners.

Former Premiership stars Fabrizio Ravanelli and Benito Carbone are back wowing crowds in Serie A. Ravanelli scored the winner for Perugia against Juventus on Sunday, while Carbone is helping Parma chase for a surprise Champions League place. Parma face Inter Milan live on Eurosport this Sunday.

Shakespeare’s famous play 'Romeo and Juliet' was set in the Italian city of Verona.

The electrical measurement, the 'Volt', was named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.

Jimmy Greaves was an AC Milan player when he scored his hat-trick in the famous 9-3 win against Scotland in 1961.

Spotlight on Euro 2004

Spotlight on Latvia
Spotlight on Denmark
Spotlight on Spain
Spotlight on Sweden
Spotlight on Switzerland