ei, now that materrazzi got red carded, nesta is out for injury. den, any centre-back to replace both of 'em during Ukraine match ar? IINM, barzagli is a right back onli rite?

Alessandro Nesta will miss Italy's quarter final against Ukraine.

The experienced defender picked up a groin injury in the Azzurri's final group game against Czech Republic and had to watch on as his side edged past Australia in the second round.

He had hoped for a swift return but is recovering slower than expected and will not be risked.

Nesta will undergo a further scan before Friday's last eight clash but Marcello Lippi has been left scratching his head for alternatives.

"Against Ukraine I won't play, but for the next match I have high hopes," he said. "I'll do everything to play"

With Marco Materazzi also suspended Andrea Barzagli is likely to be drafted in alongside Fabio Cannavaro in the heart of the defence.

Italy have only conceded one goal so far this tournament but Ukraine will be buoyed by the continuing absence of two of their key defenders.

And Nesta fired a warning to his side about the threat of former Milan team-mate Andrei Shevchenko.

"To block him you must be at 100 percent," he commented.

"You must do as few mistakes as possible. He has not got many weak points and you have to watch that he does not get free."

ROME, June 29 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest-ever sports trial considered match-fixing charges against four top soccer clubs and 26 officials on Thursday before a string of procedural motions forced an adjournment until next Monday.

Champions Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, four of soccer-mad Italy's elite teams, risk being forced out of the nation's Serie A league and European competition if found guilty of conspiring with referees to rig matches.

Tribunal president Cesare Ruperto opened the trial with a roll call of the accused who stood up behind rows of desks as their names were read inside a spartan, low-ceilinged room in Rome's Olympic Stadium.

But defence lawyers quickly raised a list of objections that forced Ruperto to halt the trial after less than three hours.

'We will adjourn until Monday, July 3,' Ruperto said after allowing five Serie B teams hoping to be promoted -- Bologna, Brescia, Lecce, Messina and Treviso -- to take part in the proceedings and giving them until Monday to prepare their cases.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has promised to finish the trial by July 9, the day of the World Cup final.

However, Thursday's brief proceedings raised questions about whether the tribunal will meet the federation's timetable.

Among the accused packed into the room were former FIGC president Franco Carraro, AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani and referee Massimo De Santis, who was barred from the World Cup after the 'Clean Feet' scandal erupted in May.

Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, whose tapped phone calls with officials and referee designators triggered the scandal, was not present. He has said he does not need to answer to the tribunal because he has quit Juventus.

The accused are charged with sporting fraud and unfair conduct, which could lead to the teams being relegated and the individuals being either suspended or banned from football.

Juventus runs the greatest risk of being demoted, and the club appeared resigned to playing a year outside Serie A.

'We have worked to get things back to normal and prepare a team that in two years will return to being a winning squad,' Juventus CEO Carlo Sant'Albano said in a newspaper interview.

At a meeting of Juventus shareholders in Turin which elected a new board, one investor after another stood up and accused the outgoing board of turning a blind eye to dealings they said had tarnished the club's history of 29 Serie A championships.

'If I think of the shares I bought and the season ticket that I had, I involuntarily participated in and financed 'Moggiopoli,'' one shareholder said, referring to the widely used nickname for the scandal.

Juventus shares have lost half their value since the scandal erupted in early May, and were down 0.67 percent at 1.33 euros at 1134 GMT.

The trial will run for the duration of the World Cup in Germany, where 13 players from the four accused clubs play for Italy, who face Ukraine on Friday in the quarter-finals.

FIGC has said any appeals will be heard by July 20, giving it time before a July 27 deadline to submit the names of teams for next season's Champions League and UEFA Cup competitions.

In a reminder that it is a sports tribunal, the judges wore suits instead of the robes that are worn in criminal trials. But prosecutors in four cities have launched criminal probes.

Italy vs. Germany in Semi-Finals. Can't wait for this match

taly coach Marcello Lippi was delighted to see Luca Toni finally find the scoresheet in the World Cup finals.

The Fiorentina striker came to Germany 2006 off of a record-breaking goalscoring campaign in Serie A last term.

The former Palermo man, however, had so far struggled to find the back of the net in the finals, but he ended his drought with a second-half brace in Friday's 3-0 quarter final win over Ukraine in Hamburg.

Toni's goals came after Gianluca Zambrotta gave the Azzurri an early lead, as Italy cruised to an easy victory and a clash with hosts Germany in the semi-finals.

Lippi was pleased with the performance and conceded that his side face a difficult task against the Germans in Dortmund next Tuesday.

"I'm really happy and really proud of what the players did today, I'm especially happy for Toni," Lippi said.

"It was really strange that he did not score before tonight (in these finals). Now we have to look towards the next match.

"Naturally, it will be difficult, but it will be difficult for Germany too."

Man of the Match Zambrottam, meanwhile, dedicated his first-half goal to former Juventus team-mate Gianluca Pessotto.

Pessotto was hospitalised after falling from a building this week an apparent suicide attempt.

"I want to dedicate my goal to Gianluca Pessotto, our big friend, who is living a really difficult moment and we hope he can overcome this," Zambrotta said.

"We are satisfied for the qualification to the semi-final. It has been a difficult match, but we played it in a fantastic way.

"The defending is a merit of the whole team. We have achieved a really important result. "Let's hope we are able to continue in this way."

Fellow goalscorer Toni was pleased with his contribution in helping Italy reach the semi-finals.

"The most important thing was overcoming the round," Toni said. "We played a really great match and I'm happy for my double.

"I lifted off myself a big weight. It's fantastic. It has been important having Marcello Lippi's faith - I must thank him and I owe him a lot.

"I've got many critics in this period, but I've continued working to be ready when the coach asked me to play and I'm really happy.

"Scoring at the World Cup is something special because I don't know if I'll have another similar possibility.

"I wanted to score and I did and it's really a big satisfaction."

a really great game by the italians. at last toni scores.
totti almost score but no luck i guess. a nice win.