When Italy qualified for the 1998 World Cup, the forwards they took to France were Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi and Enrico Chiesa. The following top-class attackers didn't make the trip: Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Mancini, Francesco Totti, Giuseppe Signori, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Vincenzo Montella, Pierluigi Casiraghi and Paolo Di Canio. The latter never even won a cap for his country.
Twenty years later and the squad’s frontline contains an Inter reserve, Eder, and a struggling Southampton striker, Manolo Gabbiadini. Such is the dearth of quality available that fans were forced to pin their hopes on Ciro Immobile, who has proven to be an almighty flop whenever he has played for a big team.
Over the past 12 months, Leonardo Pavoletti, Gianluca Lapadula, Roberto Inglese and Nicola Sansone have received call-ups.