Italy vs. Norway

By HELENE ELLIOTT

June 27, 1998 12 AM PT

SITE: Marseille

TIME: 7:30 a.m. TV: ESPN2, Ch. 34. RADIO: KWKW (1330 Spanish)

* ABOUT ITALY: Coach Cesare Maldini has masterfully juggled his forwards and gotten superb results. He can’t lose--and hasn’t yet--by playing Roberto Baggio and bringing Alessandro Del Piero off the bench, or vice versa.

* ABOUT NORWAY: The Norwegians play a cautious, four-defender, five-midfielder, one-forward system. But when that one forward has the skills of Tore Andre Flo, it can work.

* OUTLOOK: Italy has yet to play a game that’s above reproach defensively, although it has shown bursts of surprising offensive power in scoring seven goals. Losing defender Alessandro Nesta (knee ligaments) will hurt. Giuseppe Bergomi, who played for Italy in the 1982 World Cup, is likely to replace him. Norway is disciplined, well organized and skillful. Flo’s speed and agility might cause problems for Italy’s defense. The emotional boost of defeating Brazil in their final first-round match could carry over for the Norwegians.

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.