THE TIME has come for Glenn Hoddle to get seriously worried. The time has also come for the England manager to start praying for a dramatic revival in the fortunes of both Georgian and Polish soccer, starting tomorrow night when Poland play host to Italy in a Group Two World Cup qualifier in Chorzow.

Such a thought comes only naturally to all those of us who were at the Nereo Rocco stadium in Trieste last Saturday night to watch Italy cruise past Moldova 3-0 in another Group Two qualifier simply, England may well finally quality for France 98 but, given the way Italy are currently performing, that English qualification will have to come via the lottery of the play offs among the second placed European Group finishers.

Italy's win against Moldova might have been a thoroughly expected triumph against modest opponents but it nonetheless underlined the validity of, the ongoing rebuilding project undertaken by coach Cesare Maldini. That project, of course, was the one which got off to rather a spectacular start with that 1-0 defeat of England at Wembley in February.

Last autumn, Arrigo Sacchi's Italy had struggled against Moldova in Chisinau, still being held on a 1-1 scoreline with half an hour to go before going on to win 3-1. Last Saturday, Italy barely broke sweat as they dismissed Moldova in a game which was a contest only in name.

Indeed, the ease of the Italian win was such that several players admitted afterwards that they had played with the handbrake on for much of the second half, mindful of their potentially much more difficult qualifier against Poland in Chorzow tomorrow night.

It was a night when everything went right for Italy. Returning local hero, manager Cesare Maldini, led his side to victory in his native town. His son Paolo started the festivities with a goal of breathtaking class after only 24 minutes.

New boy Christian Vieri marked his debut by scoring Italy's 1000th goal in international soccer.

With four wins from four games, Italy now top Group 2 on 12 points, three clear of second placed England who have also played four. Little wonder that Cesare Maldini could stop to joke and play with his baby grandson (son of Paolo) as he made his way to the post match microphones on Saturday night.

"Moldova never caused us any problems, neither our defence nor our goalkeeper had much to do. The important thing was to win, these are points which keep you going up the Group table...

"The goal scored by Paolo, my son, was a terrific goal not just in itself but also because it set the game up for us, but I was also very satisfied with Vieri's goal - the youngest player on the team had the honour of scoring Italy's 1000th goal, not bad, is it?"

From the England viewpoint, though, the news is clearly gloomy. In only their third game under Maldini, the new Italy is looking more solid and more compact by the minute. That point was underlined by Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo who suggested that much of the merit for the successful "dream debut" made by Vieri could be linked to the already well established team patterns and rhythms.

"Remember, this is a good group of players, we've been together for a couple of years, we know one another pretty well and for that reason a newcomer like Vieri could arrive and settle in so easily," he told The Irish Times.

Di Matteo's comment is worth reflection. In truth, Maldini may well have changed Italy's tactical approach, reverting to the traditional Italian virtues of a solid defence, but he was careful to do so with players who had all already played together under his predecessor Sacchi. That familiarity with one another has stood Italy in good stead in both qualifying wins under Maldini.

As for Poland, both Di Matteo and team mate Stefano Eranio were quick to admit that tomorrow's game would be a very different matter.

"Certainly Poland will be a difficult side to play against but if we go there and play with the same attitude that we showed tonight, then things should go well," said Eranio.

Unlike the controversial Sacchi, coach Maldini is unlikely to change a winning side for the Poland game. The injury enforced absence of Lazio defender Alessandro Nesta, due to be replaced by Fabio Caanavaro, will probably be the only change from the side which started against Moldova.

Vieri and Zola remain in attack, even if the little Chelsea striker was looking just a little weary on Saturday. Di Matteo, Demetrio Albertini, Dino Baggio and Angelo Di Livio remain in a settled midfield, heart of a settled side. A source of worry for the Poles.

"On Wednesday it'll be a very difficult game for us because we don't have the great class players of former times, players like Boniek, Zmuda and Smolarek.

We don't have great players, merely a medium level side with plenty of useful players but no outstanding stars," said Polish Football Deputy President Ryszard Kulesza on Saturday.

Indeed. No outstanding stars, just useful players. Sounds like England. Time to get worried, Mr Hoddle.