ITALY CONTINUED their victory march towards the 1998 World Cup finals in Naples last night, with substitute Roberto Baggio starring in a 3-0 victory over Poland.

It was a fairy tale return for Baggio, who ended a 19-month absence from the national team after falling foul of former coach Arrigo Sacchi.

Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo ended an uninspiring start to the Group Two tie in the 24th minute and skipper Paolo Maldinison of team coach Cesare Maldini bundled home the second 13 minutes later.

Italy, who have only conceded one goal in their six qualifying matches so far, had initially failed to find their usual fluid, attacking rhythm until Di Matteo's strike. But afterwards, they never looked back.

Poland, playing a defensive 4-5-1 formation and always incisive in the tackle, were caught out by an exquisite chip into the area by Demetrio Albertini. The AC Milan midfielder dropped the ball in the narrow gap between the last defender and goalkeeper Andrzej Wozniak for Di Matteo to run in and flick it home.

Italy's second came after Zola curled over a corner from the right, Ciro Ferrara headed it across the goal and Maldini launched himself at full stretch for a half shot which Wozniak blocked but failed to hold.

Maldini, still on the ground, lashed the loose ball into the roof of the net to an ecstatic reaction from his father.

Baggio soon put the result beyond doubt, collecting a long ball from namesake Dino Baggio, dribbling past Wozniak and driving a low shot between two Polish defenders into an empty net.