Ravanelli and Co. as good as Ronaldo

COVERCIANO, Italy, May 25 (AFP)

Fabrizio Ravanelli reckons that Italys strike force will be every bit as good as Brazils at the World Cup finals. Ravanelli rates the likes of Alessandro Del Piero on a par with Ronaldo and Romario, the two men Brazil are counting on to retain the trophy. "Theres no country in the world with as many people to choose from up front as we have," he said. "If you asked 10 different people which striker Italy should take to the World Cup youd have 10 different answers. "Ronaldo and his teammates are extraordinary, but if Ronaldo played for Juventus he might not be as good as (Alessandro) Del Piero, who takes part more in the game as a whole. "I think we can say that were on a level with the Brazilians."  Ravanelli, who joined Olympique Marseille after the start of last season, is hoping Italy finish top of Group B and play their second round tie before his home crowd at the Stade Velodrome. "The atmosphere would be fantastic if we played in Marseille,"  Ravanelli said. "Its a special city and everyone would be supporting us-not just because I play for Italy. "The French people there have always been bigger fans of Italy than France. They reckon we are the favourites to win the tournament, along with Brazil and France. "They follow Italian football on television and they know everything about the Serie A. And anyway, French football is very similar to Italian football its tough, fast and technical."  Its not by chance that theyve produced players like (Youri) Djorkaeff and (Zinedine) Zidane or that Italian clubs continue to look to France for their reinforcements."  As for himself, the former Middlesbrough ace is anxious to make up for his disappointments in Italys last major tournament, the 1996 European championships in England. "Id just won the European Cup (with Juventus) and my morale was sky high," he told the Corriere dello Sport. "But I was held back by tendon trouble and I only got 11 minutes against Russia and an hour against the Czech Republic." Obviously, this could be my moment for revenge, but whatever else, its certainly an opportunity to be taken."