CESARE MALDINI has left out Chelsea's European hero Gianfranco Zola from his 21-man provisional World Cup squad today, but the big news is the inclusion of Roberto Baggio, the star of the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and incredibly the appearance of Giuseppe Bergomi, the Inter Milan captain who made his name by appearing as an 18-year-old in the 1982 World Cup Final. Zola ended his season on a high note, scoring the winner in Chelsea's European Cup-Winners' Cup final victory over VfB Stuttgart, but it was not enough to persuade Maldini to include him. Roberto Baggio has impressed for Bologna this season, played against Poland last year, and is still only 31; his recall was not a great surprise. He was selected in a poll by Gazzetta dello Sport readers for their 22. But Bergomi, 34, has not played international football since 1991. The injury to Juventus defender Ciro Ferrara has weakened the Italians, but even after Bergomi's fine season in which Inter came close to winning the title, this is a major surprise. Another contentious move is the exclusion of the Chelsea-bound Pierluigi Casiraghi at the expense of Fabrizio Ravanelli. Given the volatility of the Italian public Arrigo Sacchi was deeply unpopular even when he led the team to the final in 1994, because of his controversial team selection Maldini is pursuing a high risk strategy with such unexpected picks. One place is still undecided. Maldini will decide later on the fitness of Alessandro Del Piero, injured in the Champions League final. Del Piero picked up a knock in Juventus' 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in Amsterdam last night and awaits a fitness test tomorrow before receiving the green light for the World Cup. Perhaps injuries such as this will enable Zola to slip into the squad at the last moment, but the real news is being made by the one Italian in Serie A with a World Cup winners' medal. The provisional squad: Keepers: Angelo Peruzzi (Juventus), Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), Gianluca Pagliuca (Inter Milan). Defenders: Giuseppe Bergomi (Inter Milan), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Alessandro Costacurta (AC Milan), Alessandro Nesta (Lazio), Fabio Cannavaro (Parma), Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus), Moreno Torricelli (Juventus). Midfielders: Dino Baggio (Parma), Demetrio Albertini (AC Milan), Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea), Francesco Moriero (Inter Milan), Angelo Di Livio (Juventus), Luigi Di Biagio (AS Roma), Sandro Cois (Fiorentina). Strikers: Christian Vieri (Atletico Madrid), Roberto Baggio (Bologna), Fabrizio Ravanelli (Marseille), Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus). Belgium coach George Leekens, meanwhile, has named a 25-man party to face France and England in Morocco next week, in their final two friendlies before the World Cup. Enzo Scifo and Franky van der Elst, both veterans of the 1986, 1990 and 1994 campaigns, seem set to join the short list of players to appear in four World Cups. England fans will remember Scifo best from the shot that cannoned of Peter Shilton's post during the 1990 last 16 game, ultimately won by David Platt's last-minute volley. There are just seven players in the 25 from outside the Belgian League. Squad for the friendlies in Morocco: Keepers: Filip de Wilde (Anderlecht), Dany Verlinden (Brugge), Philippe Vande Walle (Alost) Defenders: Vital Borkelmans (Brugge), Bertrand Crasson (Napoli), Eric Deflandre (Brugge), Philippe Leonard (Monaco), Gordan Vidovic (Mouscron), Glen de Boeck (Anderlecht), Eric van Meir (Lierse), Mike Verstraeten (Ekeren) Midfielders: Danny Boffin (Metz), Vincenzo Scifo (Anderlecht), Lorenzo Staelens (Brugge), Franky van der Elst (Brugge), Nico Van Kerckhoven (Lierse), Marc Wilmots (Schalke 04), Gert Claessens (Brugge), Philippe Clement (Genk) Strikers: Lokonda Mpenza (Standard Liege), Mbo Mpenza (Standard Liege), Luc Nilis (PSV Eindhoven), Luis Oliveira-Barroso (Fiorentina), Gert Verheyen (Brugge), Michael Goossens (Schalke 04)

'WE CAN WIN IT' SAYS YUGOSLAVS' SAVO   SAVO MILOSEVIC believes Yugoslavia can make up for years of international exile by becoming the surprise team of the World Cup finals this summer. The controversial former Aston Villa striker, who was dropped last season for allegedly spitting at the club's fans, even claims his country can go all the way in France. Yugoslavia were banned from international competition just before the 1992 European Championship, because of the civil war which broke out the previous year. They were not readmitted to the fold until the World Cup qualifiers began in late 1996. Now Milosevic, who scored nine goals in helping Yugoslavia qualify after a play-off mauling of Hungary, is desperate to help make up for his country's lost years. Their open, attacking football had made them favourites to win Euro 92 but when banned they were replaced by Denmark, who went on to win the competition themselves. Milosevic, who has just joined Spanish side Real Zaragoza for £3.5million, said: You would watch other countries battling it out to try to qualify for the finals of the European Championship and the World Cup and we could do nothing. ''We couldn't even play friendly internationals because of the sanctions against my country and that was a terrible time. There were players good enough to play for clubs like Barcelona and Atletico Madrid having to miss out. It was so frustrating from a football point of view. "But we will be there in France and when we qualified it gave a massive boost to the whole country and the people. It was just what we needed. I'm sure we can do well in the finals because we have one of the best sides in the world at present. "A lot of the players are all around Europe and some have been playing for several years with big clubs in Italy or Spain. What we have in our favour is that a lot of players in the side are capable of scoring goals. I genuinely believe that we can do something special and go a long way in the competition.

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