CESARE MALDINI'S back was to the wall. As the army of reporters closed in, he shouted: "Come on lads, don't close me in, don't play a catenaccio game on me.

The scene was the elegant sports complex of La Borghesiana, just east of Rome, where the cream of Italian soccer talent had gathered yesterday under the orders of the new national manager, 64 year old Cesare Maldini, for tomorrow's friendly against Northern Ireland in Palermo.

With all due respect Northern Ireland, a friendly against them would not normally provoke undue media fuss. But this is no ordinary friendly, rather the senior international debut of Cesare Maldini, father of AC Milan left back Paolo.

Given that his predecessor, Arrigo Sacchi, went out in a blaze of vicious media and fan criticism, the new man's first time in charge has generated huge interest. Furthermore, given that Italy play England in a potentially decisive World Cup qualifier at Wembley in just three weeks, the proceedings tomorrow night are of more than academic interest.

Maldini was appointed just before Christmas, leaving him little time to orient himself and his side in preparation for arguably the most difficult tie in the group, away to England. Accordingly, Maldini warned critics not to expect sweeping changes. There simply would not be time to try out new men.

When he announced his first senior squad last Saturday, he was as good as his word of the 20 players, only one, Internazionale defender Salvatore Fresi, is uncapped. All the others were regular members of Sacchi's squads.

Still, even if Maldini may be about to start off with the same playing personnel, the similarities between himself and Sacchi end there. With the arrival of Maldini, the Italian team is about to undergo a radical change of style hence the joke about catenaccio.

Cesare Maldini is a "footballer's footballer", someone whose highly successful playing and coaching past is intimately linked to the traditional Italian virtues of pragmatism, Mediterranean flair and, of course, a solid defence complete with sweeper.

While Sacchi was spending his early years travelling Europe as a salesman for his father's shoe factory, Maldini was an elegant libero who won four league titles and one European Cup (Wembley 1963) with AC Milan, as well as 14 caps for Italy.

While Sacchi earned himself the label of "revolutionary" with the attack and pressing oriented game he introduced at Milan in the late 1980s, Maldini argues that "there is nothing new in soccer".

While Sacchi earned himself the label of "revolutionary" with the attack and pressing oriented game he introduced at Milan in the late 1980s, Maldini argues that "there is nothing new in soccer".

While Sacchi's language was jargon ridden, with concepts such as "athletic tension", "motivation" and "spectacle" bandied about, Maldini prefers to keep things simple, arguing that there are no such things as "playmakers" or "schemers" but merely "good players".

Despite his cautious, canny and understated style, however, Maldini is a winner both as a player and coach. If a European Cup winner's medal as captain of AC Milan represented the pinnacle of his playing career, then it is worth recalling that he, too, had a part in Italy's finest post war moment, that 1982 World Cup triumph when he served as number two to the legendary Enzo Bearzot.

In more recent times, he has proved a highly successful Under 21 coach, winning three consecutive European titles (1992, 1994, 1996).

Although he was keeping his cards close to his chest yesterday, Maldini is certain to play with a sweeper (probably Ciro Ferrara of Juventus) plus two man to man markers of the breath down your neck for 90 minutes variety (probably Fabio Cannavaro of Parma and Fresi).

He will ignore Sacchi's much loved "pressing" game (cutting down the opposition's space even in the their half of the field), and will stick to a more traditional Italian waiting game, complete with counter attack.

. Bayern Munich's Christian Ziege has signed for AC Milan, according to today's Munich newspaper Tageszeitung.

Ziege (24) announced he had signed a four year contract worth $1.6 million. The paper added Ziege cost Milan $6.6 million and would leave Munich at the end of the season.