SVEN-GORAN ERIKSSON, the serene professor, continued to expand the minds and 
vocabulary of his England pupils yesterday when he educated them in the art 
of "furbo", an Italian expression encapsulating that country's cunning on the 
field of play.
  
If England are to prosper at the World Cup they will have to live with such 
sophisticated sides as Italy, whom they face in a friendly at Elland Road on 
Wednesday night, and such tactics as "furbo"...

Loosely translated as savvy or street-smart, "furbo" reflects the Italian 
style of smothering defence and clinical finishing.

"Furbo means shrewd," said Eriksson, "it's about meaning you can play poorly 
but all the time waiting for one opportunity to score. The strengths of 
Italian football are in defending very well and then, when the chance comes, 
boom, the ball is in the net."

... Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta are mobile, clever centre-halves who 
invariably stay on their feet in the tackle and will certainly stretch the 
capacities of Liverpool's finest.

"Italian defenders get very tight and are very difficult to break down," 
observed David Platt, the Under-21s coach who has played and coached in Serie 
A. Their marking at set-pieces, the tricks ranging from subtle nudges, tugs 
and blocks, can also frustrate opponents...

Italy also possess classy strikers in the all-action Francesco Totti and the 
rangy Marco Delvecchio (a probable replacement for the doubtful Christian 
Vieri) who can pounce like panthers on any frailty. In the absence of 
England's leading centre-half, Rio Ferdinand, Eriksson said it was a "good 
idea" to look at the Sol Campbell-Gareth Southgate axis and both will need to 
be at their most alert to combat Totti and Delvecchio. Again, the experience 
can only improve them.

Eriksson admitted his "surprise" that Italy's erudite coach, Giovanni 
Trapattoni, had switched from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2. Yet a team understandably rated 
by Eriksson as "one of the favourites for the World Cup" will be only four 
players short of full strength, lacking Paolo Maldini, Demetrio Albertini, 
Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Coco...