DELICATE is not a word that you would normally associate with an Italian defender.

But that's how Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro describes his side ahead of tonight's clash in Bari.

Italy have been on the end of fierce criticism from the Italian media after their slow start to qualifying.

"This is a delicate team," said Cannavaro. "Considering the criticism we have received, it seems we have returned to the pre-World Cup atmosphere."

The match-fixing scandal in Serie A which rocked the nation last summer failed to hinder the Italians in Germany. They went on to lift the World Cup trophy in Berlin under the guidance of Marcello Lippi.

"In Italy it's always like this," said Cannavaro. "But don't forget this group is always able to give its best in difficult times, when we can no longer make mistakes. To be five points behind the leaders annoys me, I really didn't think we would find ourselves in this position at this stage.

"But the truth is we are four teams competing for two places."

Failure to qualify for Euro 2008 would be a huge blow to the Azzurri, who suffered that fate before in 1984, having won the World Cup two years earlier.

But Cannavaro has his eye on adding a European Championship medal to his World Cup gong. He said: "We want the double, just like France did at the World Cup in 98 and Euro 2000. We have 12 world champions in this national team, full of enthusiasm."