[Beijing 2008] Casiraghi eyes Olympic dream team

Italy Under-21 boss Pierluigi Casiraghi has surprisingly revealed that he wants some veteran stars to join his squad for the Olympic Games.

Casiraghi will be called upon to name 18 players for a Under-23 squad to travel to Beijing and only 15 of these must have been born after January 1, 1985.

This requirement allows the Monza-born coach to call three overage players and he has set his sights high.

"It depends on Roberto Donadoni’s selections for Euro 2008 and obviously the priority goes to the younger players such as Alberto Aquilani and Giorgio Chiellini.

"But that doesn’t mean that I’m excluding some heroes like Pippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero. I’d also like Gigi Buffon and Luca Toni."

The football tournament will take place in China between August 6 and 23 and many of Casiraghi’s decisions could be dictated by the decisions of players and clubs.

Italy qualified by winning the Olympic play-off match against Portugal in last year's UEFA Under-21's European Championships in the Netherlands and will find out their group opponents when the draw is made on 20 April.

The Azzurrini took the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens after a 1-0 win over Iraq in the third-placed final.

Source: C4 Football Italia