latest news
DEL PIERO WINNING FITNESS RACE
Del Piero - hoping to feature for Italy.
Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero has passed a late fitness test and looks to be ready for Italy's clash with Cyprus on Saturday.
Del Piero picked up an injury to his abductor muscle in training but Italy coach Lippi will be hoping he is available for selection as he looks set to field a full-strength team.
"He trained separately from the group today and we will evaluate his condition tomorrow," Lippi said of Del Piero.
"He could be ready for the game against Cyprus."
Antonio Di Natale is favourite to play up front with Toni if Del Piero is unable to recover in time.
Saturday will also see the return of captain Fabio Cannavaro who has fully recovered from the ankle injury that ruled him out of Euro 2008.
Elsewhere in the group, coach Hector Cuper believes Georgia's qualifier against the Republic of Ireland could have been played in Tbilisi.
The game, which will take place at the neutral venue of Mainz's Bruchweg Stadium, was initially scheduled to be played in the Georgian capital.
However, amid concerns expressed by the Football Association of Ireland in the wake of the ongoing political unrest in Georgia, the match was switched to Germany.
Cuper said: "It was really possible to hold this game in Tbilisi. It would not have been a problem."
FIFA ordered the Georgian Football Federation (GFF) to come up with an alternative venue should the situation in the country persist, and eventually ruled that the tie must be moved.
But Georgia insist the match could have stood as a symbol of united strength had it remained in the capital.
GFF spokesman Alexander Tsnobiladze said: "In Tbilisi, it would have been an opportunity for Georgian people to unite."
Former Real Mallorca, Valencia and Inter Milan boss Cuper is likely to make a series of changes to the side which beat Wales 2-1 last month, with AC Milan defender Kakha Kaladze among those expected to return.
Saturday's other Group Eight clash will see history made as Montenegro embark on their first qualification campaign as an independent nation following their split with Serbia in 2006.
The match against Bulgaria in Podgorica thus marks Montenegro's competitive debut in international competition, and Football Association of Montenegro president Dejan Savicevic believes the new boys can spring a surprise or two.
"We are a small country, we are debutants and we don't expect miracles," Savicevic said in quotes reported on www.uefa.com.
"We just want to give our best, but if our players do that in every match anything could happen.
"If I didn't believe we could beat any team in this group I wouldn't be doing this job."
