Italy coach Roberto Donadoni challenged his players on Tuesday to earn the right to be included in the 23-man squad that will take part in next summer’s Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.

Italy secured their passage to the finals with a 2-1 win in Scotland on Saturday but still have one match to play against the Faroe Islands here on Wednesday.

And Donadoni told his players that places are still up for grabs in the final squad. He added he will make changes from the team that beat Scotland, giving some fringe players a chance to shine.

Portuguese striker Hugo Almeida’s thigh injury is worse than first expected and he is set to miss Werder Bremen’s key games against Real Madrid and the crucial Bundesliga clash with Hamburg.

The 23-year-old hit the winning goal for Portugal in their 1-0 win over Armenia on Saturday, but then tore his thigh muscle before he was subsitituted.

“It happened when I sprinted for the ball just before I was taken off, I knew straight away I was in trouble,” Almeida said about his injury.

Peter Crouch insists he can cope with the pressure of leading England’s attack in their decisive Euro 2008 showdown against Croatia.

Injuries to Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney have left Crouch to shoulder the responsibility of providing Steve McClaren’s team with a cutting edge at Wembley on Wednesday.

England need a point to qualify for next year’s finals and the Liverpool striker is confident he can fill the void left by Owen and Rooney’s absences.

Italian champions Inter Milan and Juventus are set to battle it out for the signature of Argentina playmaker Juan-Roman Riquelme in the January transfer window, press reports suggested Monday.

Riquelme, who once forged a formidable forward pairing with Uruguay striker Diego Forlan at Villarreal, is due to leave the Yellow Submarines in January after failing to patch-up his differences with coach Manuel Pellegrini.

The Argentine forward went out on loan last season after falling out of favour with Pellegrini, despite being the team’s star man the season before.

Jurgen Klinsmann is set to be offered the chance to become Australia coach after Dick Advocaat’s shock decision to snub the Socceroos.

Advocaat pulled out of a deal to manage Australia just hours before he was due to be introduced to the team at Saturday’s 1-0 friendly win over Nigeria in London.

The Dutchman’s u-turn has left Football Federation Australia with only 81 days to find an alternative coach before the World Cup qualifing campaign begins in February and former Germany coach Klinsmann is top of their wanted list.

Italy manager Roberto Donadoni warned the rest of European football on Saturday that his side have improved since winning the World Cup in 2006.

On Saturday, Italy clinched their place in the Euro 2008 finals with a 2-1 victory over Scotland at Hampden - a result which also ensured France would join them in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

And the Italy boss believes his side need fear no-one as they bid to become champions of Europe.

Donadoni said: “This team can go head-to-head with any team in the world and not fear them.

Germany defender Marcell Jansen had an operation on Friday to repair the ankle ligaments he damaged training with the national squad on Thursday.

The Bayern Munich defender, 22, damaged his ankle preparing for Germany’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Cyprus on Saturday in Hanover.

He will be out until at least the new year with the Bundesliga set to break for winter on December 15 and Bayern’s first game of 2008 is against Hansa Rostock on the weekend of February 1.

Jansen will be in a plaster cast for three weeks and then have intensive physiotherapy for a further three weeks.